Deputies: 'Significant distributor' of cocaine arrested

Putnam County Sheriff's Office booking photo of Cleophus Matthews

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. – A long-term undercover investigation into the distribution of narcotics in the West Putnam Area identified Cleophus Matthews as a "significant distributor" of cocaine in that area, according to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

Matthews was arrested Thursday in Hawthorne on conspiracy to traffic in cocaine.

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He is being held in the Putnam County Jail on $50,000 bond.

Deputies said Matthews was considered a major supplier of cocaine in West Putnam, and they said his arrest is a significant event in the fight against illegal drug sales in the county.