Federal Agents, Local Police Conduct Search Operation Near Downtown Dade City, Briefly Locking Down Cox Elementary

A large-scale law enforcement operation involving U.S. Border Patrol, ICE, Dade City Police and the Pasco Sheriff's Office moved through parts of downtown Dade City Thursday morning, prompting a brief lockdown at Rodney B. Cox Elementary School as federal agents and K9 units searched the surrounding area for at least one person.

The lockdown at Cox Elementary was precautionary and short. School officials have not released additional details about why the lockdown was ordered or when it was lifted. No information has been made public about who agents were searching for or whether anyone was taken into custody.

Residents posted videos on social media showing masked ICE and Border Patrol agents on foot searching parts of downtown, along with marked ICE vehicles patrolling near Lock Street. The footage shows agents moving through residential blocks and alleys in the area as the search continued through the morning.

Multiple agencies were on scene together, a combination that points to a coordinated federal-local operation rather than a routine traffic stop or local police call. Neither Dade City Police nor the Pasco Sheriff's Office has released a statement describing the scope of the operation, the number of agents involved, or its outcome.

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