USA (MNN) — Nearly 20 people in Florida face drug trafficking charges as authorities seize over six pounds of fentanyl and four pounds of cocaine worth more than $1.5 million.
Charges against the suspects carry mandatory minimum sentences ranging from 15 to 25 years.
(Photo courtesy of Orange County Sheriff’s Office)
“Anytime we can get drugs off the street is a huge win. Cocaine is coming up from our southern border in droves,” Brandon Bower with The Lighthouse says.
“Where [we are] in Fort Wayne is kind of a drug highway because we’re between four major cities: Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati, and Indy (Indianapolis).”
Cocaine is one of the most popular drugs in the United States, second only to marijuana.
“Cocaine tends to be a working man’s drug. It’s popular because it doesn’t have the massive side effects like methamphetamine does, and it’s not as addictive as heroin,” Bower says.
“It’s estimated that there are two million people in the United States using cocaine at any given time.”
Although there were 8,659 fewer cocaine overdose deaths in 2024 than in 2023, cocaine abuse is still most common among young adults, with approximately 1 in 20 reporting use in the past year.
“Cocaine is probably not one of the most dangerous drugs out there, but now they’re mixing it with so much other stuff that you don’t know what you’re getting,” Bower says. “People are dropping dead because it’s mixed with fentanyl and other things.
Cocaine vs. Christ
The Lighthouse is a 28-bed men’s residential program with a Christ-centered approach to addiction recovery. More about that here.
“Cocaine, like any other drug, has root issues in the heart,” Bower says.
“If someone’s had a past of abuse or neglect or abandonment, those things have to be addressed in biblical counseling so they understand their value lies in Christ as a child of God, rather than things of this world.”
Lives change as men find satisfaction in Christ instead of cocaine. “Alfonso* has been addicted to cocaine all his life. He met his wife in rehab, and they have struggled for the last 20 years with his cocaine addiction,” Bower says.
“His cocaine addiction led to pornography, which led to alcohol, which led to theft, which led to him selling all their possessions just so he could continue his binges,” he continues.
“When he came to The Lighthouse, he met Jesus, and it radically transformed his life. He’s been sober for about two years now and is doing fantastic. We’re seeing God restore this man to his family from years and years of cocaine abuse.”
Contact The Lighthouse here to learn what the Bible says about addiction recovery.
“We would love to connect with the audience today, and if you know someone struggling with addiction, we have resources available for you,” Bower says.
*Name changed
Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Colin Davis/Unsplash.
