74-year-old woman among those arrested in alleged heroin ring

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Drug Enforcement Administration, along with the Orlando Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff's Department announced the arrests this week of 10 people accused of being involved in a heroin ring, dubbed "Operation Deals on Wheels."  Among those accused of distributing over 4 pounds of heroin onto local streets each month is 74-year-old Ruth Perez-Lopez.

The arrests followed a raid on an east Orange County home at 3008 Bowmaster Court on Tuesday. The group made an estimated $250,000 to $300,000 a month selling the drug, agents said. 

"Ruth Lopez was one of the main distributors in the organization," said Jeff Walsh, assistant special agent in charge of the DEA's Central Florida district.  "She resided in the main house in Bowmaster. She's wheelchair-bound, and again, it's very unsettling."

Walsh said while Perez-Lopez was unsuspecting, she was a prominent distributor in the ring that included two other locations in the county.  "She's an elderly lady, and I'm sure if you met her she would seem very nice and all, but she was in a house with loaded weapons," he said.