MARION COUNTY, Fla. – Two men were arrested after nearly 3,000 pounds of trash were removed from the Ocala National Forest, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
In a release, the FWC announced that it began investigating the forest earlier this month after a dumpsite was discovered with 2,780 pounds of household garbage, including furniture and appliances.
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Detectives said they managed to track the trash back to an address in Ocala, which had an active code enforcement case with the city.
Photos from that case revealed that the same trash found in the forest had originally been loaded in a trailer on the address’ lawn, connecting Gary Cardwell, 41, with the dumpsite, according to investigators.
Cardwell was arrested after telling officers that he was the one who dumped the litter, the release shows. He also told officers that he worked together with another man — Johnny Reese, 37 — to dump the trash, an arrest report stated.
After Cardwell was taken into custody, investigators said they found methamphetamine, fentanyl and drug paraphernalia on him.
Reese was also arrested on accusations that he owned the truck and trailer used to dump the trash in the forest, investigators said.
According to the release, all of the garbage was eventually removed from the forest.
Cardwell faces several drug-related charges and one count of littering over 500 pounds. He is held on bond of $17,500 and banned from the Ocala National Forest for one year.
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