Detectives' Jaws Dropped At Sight Of Pot Bunker

The underground bunker near Tampa International Airport that police uncovered took their breath away.

The 2,000-square-foot space had stored ammunition during World War II, but when detectives dropped by, they found it stuffed with 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 today. "They spent hours and hours and hours to set this up."

Police charged one man in the elaborate operation beneath 4107 N. Manhattan Ave. in Drew Park but are investigating whether others are 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 where the arrested man, Gustavo Gonzalez, 37, had lived for 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. They arrested Gonzalez, who had not been home at the time of the search, on Friday. 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 the single-family house has been owned by Carlos and Maricela Morffi since 2004 and was built in 1953.

The bunker likely dates back to the 1940s, when it was built by the Army Air Corps, McNamara said.
"I got quite a history lesson," he 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.

It was not a part or extension of MacDill Air Force Base, although MacDill used the runways while the base's runways were being constructed, he said.

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.

TECO was suspicious about the property because of the large amount of electricity being used, McNamara said. Once police searched the site under a warrant on Jan. 9, they found electricity being diverted from just below a riser pole for the normal feed to the house, he said.

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, he 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.

The marijuana fumes were ventilated through a bird feeder above ground, McNamara said.

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