April 24, 2007
Gary Davidson
Public Information Officer

AGENTS RAID MARIJUANA GROW OPERATION NEAR NEW SMYRNA 

Narcotics agents clipped the wings of a sophisticated marijuana growing operation Tuesday morning after raiding a home just west of New Smyrna Beach and seizing drugs and firearms. Oscar Peatross, who was found hiding out in some bushes carrying night vision equipment, is facing charges of cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of drug paraphernalia.   

                         
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Agents with the East Volusia Narcotics Task Force have had the 55-year-old Peatross under investigation for two months. After obtaining a search warrant, agents raided his home at 2430 Timber View Drive at about 6:15 a.m. Tuesday morning. Peatross was found outside the house moments after the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office’s SWAT Team made entry into the residence. The ensuing search by the Task Force yielded approximately 118 marijuana plants that were growing inside a barn and approximately 2.7 pounds of cultivated marijuana divided into seven separate plastic bags that were stuffed into a duffel bag. The plants ranged between 3-4 feet in size. Agents also seized a sophisticated array of growing equipment such as lights and a ventilation and irrigation system that was connected to a generator inside the barn, where the plants were growing on two separate levels.

Inside the home, agents found two shotguns, two pistols and a rifle along with approximately $4,500 in cash and several marijuana growing magazines and handbooks. Other tell-tale signs of an illegal drug operation found inside the home included scales, plastic bags and hypodermic needles. Peatross was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach shortly after noon on bonds totaling $10,500. The East Volusia Narcotics Task Force is a multi-agency force of narcotics agents from the Sheriff’s Office, Daytona Beach Police Department, Ormond Beach Police Department, New Smyrna Beach Police Department and Edgewater Police Department that shares resources and crosses jurisdictional boundaries to combat street-level drug and vice crimes.