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Police Say Bunker Turned In To Pot Garden

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By VALERIE KALFRIN

vkalfrin@tampatrib.com

Published: January 22, 2009

TAMPA - The underground bunker near Tampa International Airport amazed even veteran detectives.

The 2,000-square-foot space had stored ammunition during World War II but now held 66 marijuana plants worth about $231,000, police said.

"All of our jaws just kind of dropped, like, 'wow,'" Tampa police Maj. George McNamara said Wednesday. "They spent hours and hours and hours to set this up."

Inside an unpainted shed in the yard, police found a 3-foot-square crawl space that led to a 12-foot drop, opening into the bunker, McNamara said.

Police charged one man in the operation beneath 4107 N. Manhattan Ave. in Drew Park but are investigating whether others were involved, McNamara said.

"We've got questions we need answers to," he said, including, "Are there other bunkers out here we don't know about?"

A tip and suspicions from Tampa Electric Co. led detectives to the bunker beneath the house. The arrested man, 37-year-old Gustavo Gonzalez, had lived in the house about four years, McNamara said.
Jail records list Gonzalez's address as 7217 N. Church Ave. He is charged with felony possession of marijuana with intent to sell, owning or leasing property for drug trafficking and grand theft of electricity.

Police searched the property Jan. 9. On Friday, they arrested Gonzalez, who was not home at the time of the search. He was released Saturday from a Hillsborough County jail on $40,000 bail, records show.
Jail records list his occupation as a self-employed construction worker.

Property records show that the single-family house has been owned by Carlos and Maricela Morffi since 2004 and was built in 1953. They could not be reached for comment.

The bunker likely dates to the 1940s, when it was built by the Army Air Forces, McNamara said.

During the 1930s, that area of Drew Park was known as Drew Field, a private municipal airport, McNamara said. The city leased the property to the Army in 1939, and it became known as Drew Army Airfield during World War II.

The Drew Army Airfield housed the 3rd Fighter Command as a base for B-17 bombers, McNamara said. From 1940 to 1945, the airfield was a training site for as many as 120,000 recruits. The Army returned the land to the city on Dec. 31, 1946, and it has changed hands several times since.

Once police searched the site, they found electricity being diverted from a riser pole to the house, McNamara said.

The bunker has 12-foot-high ceilings, and the marijuana plants were as tall as 6 feet, McNamara said. The space contained several electrical transformers, lighting equipment, a 5-ton air conditioner and irrigation systems.

"It was unbelievable," he said. "You could drive by this place and you'd never know it was there."

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800.

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