In
an early entry for the title of search warrant results of the year, deputies in
Polk County, (Orlando-area) Florida executed a search warrant and found the
following at the home of a couple: guns, ammo for an AR-15, meth in a box of
baby wipes, home-made meth pipes, one live illegal bass, two dead and frozen illegal
alligators, and two live, otherwise unhurt toddlers. That is probably the bust of a lifetime.
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| Alligators found in a meth-head's freezer |
The
Orlando Sentinel reports the findings and provides the pictures. The alligators were found in the freezer, and
were apparently a gift from the woman’s parents. They were whole. Maybe they were going to be for boots. Maybe they were going to be sold for
something. It’s Florida, so you can find
such things. It’s just not legal. We have lots of alligators in Anahuac, Texas,
but you don’t hear of deputies finding them on drug busts in people’s
freezers.
The
bass is another story. It was apparently
found in an aquarium. It was undersized,
so apparently in Florida, couldn’t be taken from the wild waters and brought
home. It’s a wildlife violation. It’s adding insult to injury. It is showing that these folks are too lazy
to get a real fish from a store and get theirs from a lake.
They
also found 300 grams of meth in the baby wipes box. And they found the twin babies. Obviously, the babies were taken away, though
they weren’t apparently harmed by the parents’ antics, beyond the negligence of
having them in a house with meth, a meth head, guns in reach, and a live bass
(the alligators were no threat). I’m
guessing that Family Services saw enough with the drugs, ammo, alligators and
bass to think that the kids would be better off somewhere else. Though, with Florida’s record of state
institutions for kids (link to story on bodies found at juvenile jail camp) that’s
debatable.
I’m
actually curious how the alligators were found.
The search warrant, which wasn’t linked in the article, likely didn’t
have frozen alligators described in it.
Maybe the warrant said that the police were looking for drugs and
thought they’d be in the freezer. When they opened the freezer, the alligators
were “in plain sight” and were then able to be confiscated and added to the
charges. It’s an interesting Fourth
Amendment question. As is the bass. Anything
is possible with meth. Anything is
possible with Florida.
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