Ocala Police Capt. Corey Taylor was honored with a special award Thursday night during a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Taylor, who serves as commander of the multi-agency Unified Drug Enforcement Strike Team (UDEST), was presented with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas award for Outstanding Task Force Commander of the Year. He is the first law enforcement officer from Florida to receive the prestigious award.
Taylor, who was born and raised in Ocala, has been with the police department for close to 20 years. He has experience as a patrol officer, K-9 officer, road unit supervisor, bike unit member, watch commander and district commander. He assumed leadership of UDEST in February 2017.
Ocala Police Chief Greg Graham also spoke at the banquet about his department’s amnesty program for those addicted to opioids. Graham also addressed other efforts that are being undertaken to combat the opioid crisis in Ocala and throughout Marion County.
UDEST is an initiative of the North Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. It is comprised of local, state and federal law enforcement from the Ocala Police Department, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Homeland Security.
Taylor’s UDEST squad has been quite in the past year. Some of their arrests have included:
- Last month they nabbed seven people in raids targeting suspected drug traffickers.
- In September, they arrested a woman who pulled multiple drug items from inside her bra, a man suspected of trafficking MDMA and a 61-year-old woman who allegedly offered an undercover agent oral sex for money.
- In August, they arrested a 60-year-old woman who is no stranger to the Marion County Jail on charges of solicitation of prostitution and possession of drug paraphernalia. They also arrested two men and a woman on a litany of charges that included burglary and drug-related offenses.
- In June, a Waldo woman was arrested at the Country Inn & Suites at 3720 SW College Rd. after allegedly striking a $120 sex deal with an undercover agent.
- In February, an Ocala couple was arrested on a variety of drug and weapons charges after a raid on their residence.