Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns

Reporter: Ashley French
Published: Updated:

Acting on a tip, the Cape Coral Police Department began investigating Richard Michael Riley, 57, for drugs.

Officers obtained information that Riley was selling large amounts of counterfeit blue-pressed Fentanyl pills in Lee County.

He was arrested on July 19, and on Thursday, July 25, the SWAT team executed a search warrant at Riley’s residence on NE 6th Place in Cape Coral.

Cape Coral Detectives discovered:

  • Pill bottles
  • $32,121
  • 14 Firearms
  • Magazines and Ammunition
  • Safe with Key
  • Needles with a Spoon
  • 5 different pill bottles with over 20 grams of Oxycodone in pill form
  • 22+ grams of Methadone
cape coral

“It’s becoming more common. I know our narcotics detectives have been very busy, and our violent crimes detectives have been very busy. There are a lot of things going down the pipeline,” said Mercedes Simonds, a Public Affairs Officer for CCPD. “Drugs can be very dangerous. There are a lot of drugs connected to fentanyl, and while someone might be used to a certain dosage of one drug, when you add in fentanyl, that makes it a potentially lethal issue.”

Riley faced charges of trafficking in Oxycodone, trafficking in or manufacturing a controlled substance, and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription for the Methadone.

He has bonded out of jail and entered a plea of not guilty in the case against him.

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