HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. – Richard C. Dacosta, a Spring Hill, Pasco County, man who was arrested on August 26th, 2020, for delivering cocaine during a sting operation, has lost $4,760 in cash contraband to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. A Final Order of Forfeiture, filed in the courts to take possession of drug-related cash or items based on “probable cause”, was granted October 12th, according to Sheriff’s Office attorney, A. Michael Perotti.
It all started on August 25 with an undercover agent who was involved in the arrest of Tampa man Ian Towson, for possession of cocaine. Towson agreed to become an informant and helped law enforcement to set up and arrest Dacosta. Through cell phone texting and Snapchat, an undercover agent asked Dacosta for 12 grams of cocaine, to which Dacosta responded he would provide 18 grams instead. Under covert surveillance, Dacosta was seen with a yellow bag coming out of his home and driving in a black Malibu toward the cocaine delivery destination of Eagle Point Apartments in Tampa. Undercover agents arrested Dacosta and conducted a field reagent test on the white powder locked in three clear bags, which indicted the substance contained cocaine.
But Post-Miranda, Dacosta described his cocaine deliveries to Towson as typically “16 parts acetone and lidocaine and only two parts cocaine.” Commonly, buyers are not aware of how little cocaine is contained in deliveries. Divulging at least one of his cocaine sources as a person named “T,” Dawson said he pays $1,700 per ounce for the illegal substance.
The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office then went to Dacosta’s residence at 16547 U.S. Hwy 41, where they found Dacosta’s wife at home. They seized a AR 15 rifle, a cocaine press, a cocaine cutting agent, and scales and bags.
“The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office takes possession of contraband which is then placed in a law enforcement trust,” said Perotti. “It is used to make investments such as on-site drug education at schools or to buy materials needed for investigations. NARCAN is bought with contraband and help deputies save lives in cases of drug overdoses that occur on the street or in people’s homes.”
Through his attorney, Dirk R. Weed of Weed and Associates in Tampa, Dacosta issued a written plea of “not guilty” to all three charges waged against him, including trafficking, delivering, and possessing cocaine.