A 29-year-old Inverness man is behind bars without bond after detectives say they found fentanyl hidden inside two containers tucked into a tree on his property, along with a scale, a razor blade and other items testing positive for fentanyl and methamphetamine. Chad Wesley Sellers was arrested Friday after the Citrus County Sheriff's Office Special Investigations Unit executed a search warrant at a residence on East Perch Court, where he lived.
According to the Citrus County Sheriff's Office, detectives began investigating suspected narcotics activity at the East Perch Court address in September after receiving information about the home. During that investigation, detectives learned Sellers was allegedly selling fentanyl out of the residence. The sheriff's office said detectives contacted Sellers at the front entrance when the warrant was carried out on Friday, and five people inside the home were detained safely.
Searching the property, detectives reported finding a digital scale with residue that tested positive for methamphetamine, a baggie of powder that tested positive for fentanyl, and a razor blade wrapped in a paper towel that also tested positive for fentanyl. A flashlight recovered from a shed held three folded pieces of aluminum foil containing a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine, the sheriff's office said.
Fentanyl Found Stashed Inside a Tree
The most unusual discovery, per the sheriff's office, came from two concealed containers hidden within a tree on the property. One held 12.9 grams of fentanyl and the other held 1.4 grams, for a combined seizure of 14.3 grams of fentanyl. Detectives also seized 1.6 grams of methamphetamine during the search.
That 14.3-gram haul is significant under Florida law. Possessing or selling between 14 and 28 grams of fentanyl is classified as a first-degree felony under Florida Statute § 893.135, carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. The statute's trafficking threshold is triggered by weight alone, regardless of whether prosecutors can show intent to sell.
Charges Include Six Church-Zone Counts
Sellers was charged with one count of trafficking more than 4 grams of fentanyl, six counts of sale of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a church, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Selling or delivering a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a place of worship is a second-degree felony under Florida Statute § 893.13(1)(e), punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine per count.
Sellers is being held at the Citrus County Detention Facility in Lecanto without bond. That facility was the subject of a federal indictment unsealed in March, which charged eight people, including correctional officers and facility staff, in an 18-month contraband smuggling operation that brought drugs and cell phones into the jail, as reported by WTSP. That federal investigation began after non-fatal overdoses were reported among inmates inside the facility.
A County Still Grappling With Overdose Deaths
The arrest lands in a county where fentanyl remains a persistent public health crisis.
According to World Population Review, Inverness, the Citrus County seat, has an estimated 2026 population of 7,866 residents. The sheriff's office has not indicated whether additional arrests are expected in connection with the East Perch Court investigation.
