CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – A Jacksonville man has been arrested on a charge of trafficking in fentanyl, according to an arrest report from the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
The Sheriff’s Office said Edward Colton, 42, had been under investigation by its narcotics unit for several months.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, a man in a black SUV back in September sold 29 grams of fentanyl to one of its informants in the parking lot of a grocery store off Oakleaf Plantation Parkway. After the transaction, investigators said, the SUV was seen driving back to Jacksonville, and when authorities ran the vehicle’s tag, it came back as belonging to a rental car company.
The Sheriff’s Office said it took until earlier this week for authorities to get a subpoena, which allowed the rental car company to divulge the name of the person who rented the SUV. Investigators said it came back as Colton, and that the phone number that was used to rent the SUV was also used to contact the informant.
“You got dot all your I’s and cross all your T’s,” explained News4Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson. “They had to do their in-depth investigation to make a determination.”
Court records show Colton was previously sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2008 following a conviction for distributing cocaine. And in 2000, Colton was sentenced to two years in prison for the same crime.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, one gram of fentanyl can potentially kill up 500 people.