LEE COUNTY, Fla. -- A Cape Coral home raided twice for heroin trafficking in less than a year is shinning a light on a growing drug epidemic.
"It is on the rise nationwide as well as here in Cape Coral, said Corporal Phil Mullen, Spokesperson for the Cape Coral Police Department.
Officers arrested three people Wednesday night in connection to the heroin operation at a home in the 100 block of SE 29th street.
Sean Rivera, Julie Applegate and Trent Parker were found in the home during the raid and are facing charges ranging from possession to sale and trafficking heroin.
"We have hit the house before, "said Corporal Phil Mullen, a spokesperson for the Cape Coral Police Department. "That is the second time; that house has been on our radar for a long time."
The Cape Coral police department has not released how much heroin detectives were able to seize from the home.
Residents who witnessed the raid told Fox 4 news they've seen a SWAT team at the home before, but say Wednesday's operation was much larger.
"They used some kind of a device to blow out the back window. It made a loud explosion. It scared all our neighbors," said Mel Myers.
Fox 4 camera's captured images of a shattered window, which appeared to be in a bedroom.
"I saw the man with the gun," said one neighbor. "I said I'm not going outside, and then I heard a couple bangs," said a woman living next to the home who identified herself as Linda.
Cape Coral detectives had been watching the home for awhile. A neighbor who asked not to be identified said he was concerned to learn drugs were being sold in a neighborhood full of children.
"It is serious, like with all the kids around here and that stuff is deadly."
Thursday evening a truck parked in the driveway of the home was towed away. The suspects charged in the case were still in custody at the Lee County Jail.
"It makes you wonder; there must be a lot of people on drugs," said Mel Myles.
