MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (VINnews) — Miami Beach police said Monday that a months-long undercover investigation they called “Operation Pink Panther” broke up a drug distribution network, with four men arrested and more than 70 pounds of narcotics and nearly $50,000 in cash seized.

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Cesar Suppa, 30, Santiago Lujan, 25, Jhon Ramirez, 39, and Matias Serrano, 29, were taken into custody, police said. A

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spokesman told WSVN that all four had been transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Other local reports said Serrano was turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Attorneys for the men could not immediately be reached.

Detectives said the case began in 2025, when they entered a private WhatsApp group used to advertise and sell drugs in wholesale amounts. By April, investigators had identified a second account marked with a Pink Panther logo. Police said that name is tied to 2C-B, a controlled substance often sold as “pink cocaine.”

Undercover officers went through a vetting process and made controlled buys of cocaine and MDMA, police said. Working with the DEA, they identified suspects and traced supply lines. Officer Christopher Bess said detectives also linked the ring to nightclubs and the electronic dance music scene in Miami Beach.

On Sept. 15, a Miami Beach police SWAT team served a search warrant at a residence in the 1200 block of Pennsylvania Avenue and arrested Suppa, according to police. Lujan, Ramirez and Serrano were arrested in Miami while that search was underway. Detectives said Serrano was carrying a backpack with $44,800.

Police said the seizure included about 71.32 pounds of cannabis and hashish, 1 kilogram of cocaine, 1.16 pounds of MDMA and 2C-B, and 1.14 pounds of psilocybin mushrooms, along with smaller amounts of ketamine, LSD and crystal methamphetamine. Officers also took $49,557 and a BMW X5.

Ramirez was charged in connection with sales of cocaine and MDMA, police said. Lujan was charged with MDMA trafficking and controlled-substance sales. Suppa faces multiple trafficking counts involving cocaine, MDMA, LSD and cannabis. Federal charges against Serrano were not immediately available.

“Operation Pink Panther demonstrates the value of proactive, intelligence-driven policing,” Chief Wayne Jones said in a statement. He said the case dismantled a network moving “significant quantities of dangerous drugs” and that detectives would keep working with local and federal partners.

Bess said investigators believe they have the ringleader and are still checking whether others were tied to the operation.