The Orlando Police Department is cracking down on drug sales and alcohol permit violations downtown.

OPD and the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigations went undercover, finding drug sales and permit violations at 12 downtown nightclubs and bars over the last six weeks.

Undercover officers say they got their hands on methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA and cannabis at nine businesses: Warped Pour, Elixir, Fixtion, Taco Kat, Aero, Celine, Sessions, Bullitt Bar and Stagger Inn.

“I’m not gonna sit here and say like, ‘Owners and managers are complicit,’” Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith said in an interview with News 6’s Mike Valente, who asked Smith whether bars bore any responsibility in relation to the drug sales. “I know they have employees, I know they have people who go to the bars and nightclubs and attend to go in and sell drugs to make money for themselves.”

Now, fourteen people are facing a total of 33 charges, according to OPD. Officers say one of them was an employee at one of the places the drugs were sold.

Officers also found 19 violations of After-Midnight Alcohol Sales (AMS) at nine establishments: Warped Pour, Elixir, Fixtion, La Rosa, Celine, Parlay, Bullitt Bar, Stagger Inn and Cosmo.

Police said officers observed inadequate or missing wand searches and failures to scan IDs. The hearing will address the violations and determine whether the businesses’ permits should be suspended or revoked.

“I need their help to correctly wand people, correctly search people so we’re not letting guns by people who are going to do bad things get into our nightclubs and bars,” Smith said.

Meanwhile, OPD’s Tactical Anti-Crime Unit continued its regular enforcement activity outside the establishments. During the same six-week period, officers seized 8 grams of cocaine, 143 grams of methamphetamine, 1 gram of heroin, 166 grams of cannabis and four illegally possessed firearms. The efforts resulted in 35 arrests, including 27 felony arrests.

OPD said crime in the Downtown Entertainment Area is down 20% compared with the same period last year.

Valente asked Smith, though, about the perception of many people that the city’s downtown area has become more dangerous.

“I think people have perceptions that downtown has some violent acts and I think social media drives it too,” Smith said, pointing to infamous incidents like the deadly Halloween mass shooting in 2024.

Despite these perceptions, Smith insisted that the work his department has done has made the area safer.

“I would say it’s safe, especially when you see our officers on every corner,” Smith said. “I can’t guarantee everyone’s safety because that’s just not reasonable, but I make it as safe as possible.”