2 women charged with trafficking fentanyl in separate cases

Victoria Hight & Lizette Sepulveda arrested

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Two women are charged with trafficking in fentanyl in separate cases, according to Duval County court records.

Victoria Hight, 68, and Lizette Sepulveda, 37, were both arrested Sept. 20.

Sepulveda was busted in a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office undercover investigation, according to an arrest report. She remained in the Duval County jail as of Tuesday evening, online jail records show.

Hight was taken into custody after a traffic stop led to the discovery of 4.5 grams of powdered fentanyl that was packaged inside her purse, according to an arrest report.

Jacksonville police said the drug trafficking began Sept. 20 when a patrol officer noticed a green Ford F-150 pickup truck circling the area of Boulevard and West 23rd streets, which investigators said they identified as a high drug area.

At one point, according to police, Hight got out of the truck, went into a home on West 23rd Street, came back out and got back in the truck. The arrest report shows the truck was then followed by both an undercover police car and a marked police car. According to investigators, Hight and the driver kept looking back at the marked police car. The patrol officer eventually pulled the truck over in a store parking lot because one of the brake lights was not working, the report shows. During the stop, according to police, the driver and Hight gave the officer permission to search the vehicle and Hight’s purse. During the search, the report shows, the officer located multiple wrapped bags of powder that later tested posted for fentanyl.

"Even though there have been people of all ages doing this type of crime, a 68-year-old female is not a usual suspect," said News4Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson. "Most of the time, when law enforcement will probably give her a pass, this time it didn’t work. It didn’t happen that way because she was acting too suspicious, too nervous. She gave them permission to search when she knew they would find it."

Hight has since been released from the Duval County jail on bond, online jail records show. News4Jax went to her home Tuesday to ask about the charge she is facing.

"I have an attorney. I can't talk about that," Hight said. "I'm sorry."


About the Author:

Award-winning broadcast and multimedia journalist with 20 years experience.