The neighbors had become very suspicious, in a Miami-Dade neighborhood. One house had owners that were rarely seen, and when they were, they appeared to be sneaking around. Eventually the police were called, and everyone was shocked by what was uncovered…
Neighborhood Gossip
The story begins in a nice neighborhood in Miami, Florida. As a whole, the neighborhood community was quite active, so this led to a fair amount of gossip. Most of this talk centered around Southwest 220 St. Everyone sense that there was something strange going on.
Police
Local police were also suspicious of the house, but sadly, neighborhood talk does not give the law probable cause for a warrant. They would need to wait for proof.
Investigation
Fortunately, another investigation gave the police department probable cause to raid the house. They had narrowed down their investigation to the right street, but a tip gave them the correct house number. 12485.
The Raid
The officers burst into the house to find that it looked quite normal. Sure, it may have been a bit messy, but it’s not as if the occupants were expecting to host a raid. Had the police made a mistake or was there more to the story?
The Trap Door
The disheartened raid moved into the master bedroom, and one officer spotted something strange under the crib. Everyone gathered around and moved the crib to the side. Underneath, they found a trap door. The investigation was becoming interesting.
Jackpot!
After walking down the small flight of stairs, the cops found a substantial amount of weed, along with tons of chemicals used for growing. It appeared as if the raid was a success, but the story was not close to being over.
Lots Of Pot
The initial total for the raid came up to $108,000. This was very successful by any standard, but the officers then received another tip. Apparently there was a house down the road that had suspicious activity as well.
Neighbor Family
Just down the street lived a family of four. Yamile Gongar, 38, lived with her boyfriend Luis Gonzalez, 41. The two had two girls aged eight and 17. By any standard, they were a typical family, but this was far from true.
21964 Southwest 125th Ave.
The family lived just down the street from the grow house raid, but they had no idea that their own dirty little secret was going to be uncovered. The tip told police that this house had some kind of operation going on beneath their property.
No Luck At First
Like the first house, the police conducted a raid, but they weren’t able to find anything. The house was clean. Hope seemed to be lost, but they still had the backyard to check. After a bit of searching, they found that there was an in-ground pool in the backyard, but it was upside down…
The Hidden Entrance
After a bit more searching, the cops were able to find the hidden entrance. A small shed led down into the underground lab beneath the capsized pool. Pot plants filled the room, but that wasn’t the terrifying revelation.
Electrical Issues
In addition to the hydroponic pot garden, the couple had installed an illegal electrical setup. It had not been installed properly, and the exposed wires could easily have created an explosion when combined with all of the chemicals in the storage area.
The Story
The pot growers had been slightly more clever than the couple down the street. They had hired a backhoe to come and dig them a pool, but they had installed the pool upside down, so as to leave a large room beneath it. This gave them plenty of room for their hydroponic operation.
Elaborate Operation
The walls were hung with pot plants and the floor was covered in organized rows of plants as well. A wire ran straight to the home’s power box. It’s shocking that no neighbors had noticed what they were up to.
Clueless
In interviews with the local news, the neighbors claimed that they had no idea what was going on. The cops explained that they should have noticed the pool digging with no pool being installed, and that there were other blatant signs. Were some of the neighbors in on it?
The Police Were Sure
In this case, the police were confident that someone had noticed the construction in the backyard. Regardless of that fact, the Gonzalez’s operation was still an elaborately impressive one.
Cash Total
Between the two houses, the raids confiscated $350,000 worth of marijuana. This came in the form of 30 pot plants, and 100 pounds of weed. An extremely impressive haul!
No Connection
Ironically, the police later discovered that the labs were not connected at all… There are still suspicions that one of the labs was connected with a bigger network, but there is no solid evidence as of yet. It just happened to be a great neighborhood for weed!
One Thing In Common
