A narcotics search warrant executed at a home in the 700 block of Cedar Place in Fort Pierce on Wednesday morning turned up 33 pounds of marijuana, more than $150,000 in cash, multiple firearms and ammunition, according to detectives. The raid led to the arrest of 59-year-old Stacy Tyrner, a Fort Pierce resident and convicted felon who is prohibited from possessing firearms, according to the sheriff's office.
The search was carried out by the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office Special Investigations Division, with assistance from the agency's SWAT team and the U.S. Marshals Service, as reported by WTVX. Detectives said they recovered items consistent with the sale and distribution of narcotics, including drug paraphernalia, a currency counter and packaging materials, along with additional gun parts and components and boxes of ammunition matching the calibers of the firearms found inside the home.
Tyrner was arrested without incident and has been charged with trafficking in marijuana, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of drug paraphernalia, and sale or delivery of a controlled substance stemming from a warrant arrest, per the same report.
Trafficking Threshold Triggers Mandatory Minimum
The 33 pounds of marijuana seized from the Cedar Place residence pushes the case well past simple possession. Under Florida Statute § 893.135(1)(a), cannabis trafficking begins at 25 pounds, making the seizure a first-degree felony that carries a mandatory minimum three-year prison sentence and a $25,000 fine upon conviction.
Tyrner's status as a felon prohibited from having guns adds another layer of exposure. Under Florida Statute § 790.23, possessing a firearm or ammunition as a convicted felon is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, and actual physical possession of a weapon triggers its own mandatory minimum three-year sentence. It remains an open question whether the guns recovered from the home will be treated as actual or merely constructive possession, a distinction defense attorneys often contest in similar cases.
The more than $150,000 in cash found at the scene could also face separate legal proceedings apart from the criminal case. Under the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act, currency and monetary instruments connected to felony drug offenses are subject to civil asset forfeiture regardless of the outcome of Tyrner's criminal charges. Whether federal prosecutors ultimately move to adopt forfeiture proceedings over the cash or firearms has not been determined.
Sheriff Ties Bust to Countywide Crackdown
Sheriff Richard Del Toro Jr., who took office in November 2024 after previously serving as Chief of Police for the Port St. Lucie Police Department, framed the seizure as part of a broader campaign against drug crime. Del Toro described the items recovered as drugs, illegal firearms and illicit cash, and said, “Drugs destroy lives and fuel crime, and we will not allow criminals to profit from that destruction.”
He added that the arrest represents “another step toward our goal of making St. Lucie County the safest county in Florida,” and praised the Special Investigations Division, the SWAT team and the U.S. Marshals Service for their work on the case.
Part of a Pattern in Fort Pierce
Wednesday's raid fits a pattern of multi-agency narcotics operations the sheriff's office has carried out in Fort Pierce this year. The Special Investigations Division routinely partners with the U.S. Marshals Service South Florida Fugitive Task Force to execute high-risk felony arrest warrants and drug searches, according to the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office.
In June, detectives and U.S. Marshals arrested a 46-year-old Fort Pierce man on methamphetamine delivery warrants before finding MDMA, cocaine, ketamine and diazepam inside his home. In July, a house fire on Avenue I in Fort Pierce led deputies to discover MDMA, fentanyl, marijuana and a handgun, resulting in drug trafficking and felon firearm charges against a 50-year-old resident, according to WQCS. And in August, Special Investigations Division detectives executed a narcotics search warrant at Sam's Drive Thru in Fort Pierce, seizing crack cocaine and arresting three people, as reported by WPBF.
Fort Pierce has drawn sustained attention from local law enforcement in part because of its public health toll. St. Lucie County recorded roughly 94 drug overdose deaths in 2023, with Fort Pierce identified by health officials as the epicenter of overdose-related emergency calls in the county, according to Pinnacle Wellness Group. Federal crime data from 2020 through 2023 also showed Fort Pierce's violent crime rate at 541.2 per 100,000 residents, well above the national average of 379.5 per 100,000, per OpenCrime.
Hoodline previously reported on a similar multi-agency narcotics operation in Fort Pierce involving the Special Investigations Division and U.S. Marshals Service in a prior narcotics case, as well as on other felon firearm arrests tied to the department's ongoing enforcement push. It remains unclear what prior felony conviction bars Tyrner from possessing firearms, a detail the sheriff's office has not yet disclosed.
