Photos and Article By Robin Postell
LOWNDES – (Tuesday, October 23, 2018) Acting on an anonymous tip from the Valdosta Police Department Narcotics Unit, the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office began surveillance of a property located at 4335 Knights Academy Road about a week ago.
On Monday, October 22, around 6:00 p.m., the home of Sergio Gonzales was entered by the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office with a search warrant.
Gonzalez, his wife Maria Gonzales, and their four-year-old child were detained following the discovery of a large marijuana operation on the property.
The smell was an instant giveaway.
“Pungent,” Sheriff Ashley Paulk said, entering the repurposed home. “You can definitely smell it as soon as you get close…If you don’t know what it smells like, good.”
Acting on the tip, for the last week investigators from LCSO Special Operations Division have been scrutinizing the property, conducting surveillance at the location. They obtained search warrants to use electronic surveillance tools, including FLIR (heat-detecting) equipment and aerial surveillance using drones.
(PHOTO: By Robin Postell, One of the various grow rooms)
That surveillance had Special Agents belly-down in cotton fields across the road from the property. There wasn’t much traffic in and out of the property, but according to Sheriff Paulk, the smell was enough to lead to probable cause. Paulk stated he thought traffic to and from the property was limited for safety and security of the operation.
The property has been rented to the Gonzales family. The couple reportedly have only lived here for a few years and are originally from the southern Florida area. They lived in a rear structure on the property, located directly behind the “grow house,” with their four-year-old son.
(PHOTO: By Robin Postell, the structure behind the “grow house” where the family lived)
(PHOTO: Courtesy Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office, Sergio Gonzales)
(PHOTO: By Robin Postell, Lights used to grow the marijuana plants were detected with FLIR cameras, which picked up the heat signature)
“That room with all the light showed up on the FLIR as a hot spot,” Sheriff Paulk explained, referring to an interior room which was illuminated with special lights.
A profuse and intense aroma of marijuana pervaded the senses upon entering the large residence, dedicated exclusively as a “grow house” to a sizable marijuana operation. The roughly 3,000-square-foot structure was littered with the remnants of a thriving illegal pot business – a couple of leather sofas and coffee tables couldn’t disguise the house as a home. The bedrooms and smaller anterooms were clearly not there to provide a cozy environment for anything other than a nursery for marijuana plants in all its various life stages.
According to LCSO Staff Sgt. Tyler Greene, the size of the operation isn’t “super common” – adding that most growers they encounter are just small “mom and pop” operations with not a whole lot of product.
“In my 20 years as a sheriff, this is only the third one of this size I’ve seen,” Sheriff Paulk said. Paulk, who has a background as a career electrician, noted that the electrical circuit box was quite sophisticated. According to Paulk, it appeared the power was being stolen. “What he’s done is pretty complicated,” Sheriff Paulk said, evaluating the electrical wiring inside the house. “Looks like he went ahead of the meter. Here’s a 200 AMP service, a relay to turn the lights on and off…lots of receptacles for different appliances like fans.”
(PHOTO: By Robin Postell, Sheriff Paulk, an electrician, noted the sophisticated measures taken to power the operation)
Gonzales does not have any felony convictions. He is currently in the Lowndes County Jail. The search revealed approximately 280 marijuana plants, approximately 12 pounds of marijuana processed for sale, with a total approximate value recovered of $500,000.
“Got a little tip, did a little surveillance…” Sheriff Ashley Paulk
