A Fruitland Park woman and her Umatilla cohort were taken into custody on drug charges after being stopped with meth and fentanyl.
An officer saw a white passenger vehicle driven by three women, including 40-year-old Amber Nichole Morales and 38-year-old Shelley Anne Vanzant, traveling east on Miller Street around 2 a.m. Saturday, according to an arrest report from the Fruitland Park Police Department.
He saw the vehicle pull onto U.S. Highway 27/441 and noticed that its tag lights were too faint to read the license plate. He then brought the vehicle to a stop near Grizzard Street. As he approached the window, he noticed Morales reaching inside a lunchbox, according to the report.
The driver denied consent for law enforcement to search the vehicle, so a K-9 was dispatched to the scene. A positive alert to the odor of narcotics meant the vehicle would be searched regardless, and all three women were asked to leave, according to the report.
The officer began the search on the center console, where he discovered a cut straw with residue and a folded piece of burnt foil. Morales’ backseat had a black and pink purse with a burnt straw and another folded piece of burned foil. According to the complaint, the officer peered into her lunchbox.
Inside was a cut straw, a silver container with multiple pieces of cut foil and plastic, and a blue container with multiple pieces of foil, a cigarette pack, and a taped piece of paper containing approximately 2 grams of methamphetamine. The investigation stated that the cigarette pack contained a burnt glass pipe.
Another officer discovered two cut straws on the front passenger seat and floorboard. A smaller silver container contained two little baggies of fentanyl, weighing 0.1 and 1.0 grams. Morales claimed possession of the lunchbox, according to the report.
Officers also searched the three occupants and inquired whether they had anything on them. Vanzant indicated that she had a pipe in her jeans, which they discovered beside folded foil, two clear containers, and a white silicone container. According to the report, one of the clear containers held 0.2 grams of methamphetamine and the other contained a crystalline residue.
When she withdrew the silicone container, it poured blue powder on her clothes. The drug tested positive for fentanyl and weighed 0.2 grams, according to the report.
Morales was detained on allegations of possessing fentanyl, methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia. She was booked into the Lake County Jail and released after posting a $6,000 bond.
She was also arrested in August 2025 for trespassing at 7-Eleven, in March 2025 for trespassing, in January 2025 for narcotics, in February 2024 for heroin tablets, and in November 2023 for pills found in her backpack.
Vanzant was detained on charges of tampering with evidence and possessing fentanyl, methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia. She was released from jail after paying a $8,500 bond.
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