Woman seeking fentanyl gets number wrong, texts narcotics detective, Florida cops say

A holiday drug deal went bad in the most embarrassing of ways when the buyer accidentally texted her order to a narcotics detective, according to investigators in the Florida Panhandle.

It’s happened on New Year’s Eve, and the investigator caught on fast and played along.

“On December 31 ... a local woman reached out through text messaging to someone she believed was a drug dealer. The woman was looking for fentanyl to purchase before leaving town,” the Bay County Sheriff’s Office said in a Jan. 6 news release.

“She had accidentally reached the phone of a narcotics investigator at the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.”

The detective decided to set up a meeting in the parking lot of a gas station, officials said.

When the 41-year-old Panama City woman showed up, deputies said, she was met by “several investigators.”

Details of the woman’s reaction were not released.

She has been charged with “unlawful use of a two-way communication device, possession of drug paraphernalia, and driving while license suspended or revoked,” the sheriff’s office said.

Bay County is about a 135-mile drive east from Pensacola.

This story was originally published January 7, 2025 at 7:56 AM with the headline "Woman seeking fentanyl gets number wrong, texts narcotics detective, Florida cops say."