April 18, 2008
Gary Davidson
Public Information Officer

TASK FORCE ARRESTS FATHER-SON ON MULTIPLE DRUG CHARGES 

A father and son are facing multiple drug charges after narcotics agents seized 7 pounds of marijuana and about 102 grams of cocaine from a house in Daytona Beach on Thursday. The East Volusia Narcotics Task Force also seized a firearm, cash, 18 Ecstasy pills and a digital scale during a search of 160 Gala Circle

The contraband was found inside a house where 57-year-old Dennis Kennedy lives. He was the only one home when drug agents arrived shortly after 4 p.m. on Thursday with a search warrant. While Kennedy’s son, 23-year-old Ryan Kennedy, lives at 125 Carnival Drive in Daytona Beach, he also maintains a bedroom at his father’s house. And that’s where investigators found the drugs on Thursday. Given the amount of drugs and the strong odor they gave off, investigators said the elder Kennedy must have known they were in the house. And that, they say, makes him complicit in the crimes. 

Dennis Kennedy was charged with trafficking in cocaine, trafficking in Ecstasy, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. While the raid was going on at 160 Gala Circle, Daytona Beach police were serving a search warrant at Ryan Kennedy’s house. That resulted in the younger Kennedy being charged with possession of marijuana under 20 grams. However, after Task Force agents interviewed Ryan Kennedy and he admitted knowledge of the drugs in his room at his fathers’ house, he also was charged with trafficking in cocaine, trafficking in Ecstasy, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Both were being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach.

The East Volusia Narcotics Task Force is a multi-agency force of narcotics agents from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, Daytona Beach Police Department, New Smyrna Beach Police Department and Ormond Beach Police Department that shares resources and crosses jurisdictional boundaries to combat street-level drug and vice crimes. The Port Orange Police Department also assisted in the operation.