A woman, aged 37, was taken into custody on Wednesday by Miami-Dade police following an investigation conducted by the department’s Agricultural Environmental Crimes Section and the Miami-Dade Department of Environmental Resources Management at her property in the Redlands.
A judge signed a search warrant on August 13 for Ledys Garcia’s property located in the 18500 block of Southwest 200th Street, as stated in her arrest report.
During the execution of the search warrant, law enforcement officers discovered that several modular structures and recreational vehicles (RVs) were occupied. They noticed that some RVs had signs of above-ground sanitary plumbing on the left side, indicating the discharge of black water or septic waste specific to RVs.
According to the police, there were reports of discolored water leaking from some of the RVs through a plastic plumbing pipe that was connected to the ground.
The authorities collected a sample from the RV that was located approximately 4 feet away from the well pump.
The police announced on Tuesday that the lab results indicated the presence of fecal matter.
According to the arrest report, the Redland holds significance as a historical agricultural community, playing a crucial role in Miami-Dade County’s ecosystem. It serves as a prominent agricultural center, providing food to various parts of the world. Being a rural area, the Redland heavily relies on ground water and well water for both irrigation and human consumption.
According to the police, Garcia’s property is situated amidst residential areas, crop fields, and sub-tropical fruit groves. These areas heavily depend on the availability of clean and safe groundwater for their sustenance.
The arrest report states that any contamination to the groundwater or aquifer can have devastating impacts on health.
On Wednesday, Garcia was arrested for showing a complete disregard for the environment.
By Thursday afternoon, her presence was no longer visible in the online jail database.