Cops Looking for Meth Lab Find Strawberry Moonshine Still Instead

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s detectives got more than they bargained for when they reported to a Plant City home Thursday afternoon to search for a meth lab.

It seems the agency’s Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement Team and officers from the Florida Department of Corrections had reason to believe probationer Donnie Jones was operating a meth lab on his 3501 Edwards Road property.

When deputies entered a shed on Jones’ land they found something illegal, but it wasn’t quite the operational meth lab they expected. Instead, they found a moonshine still sitting under the shed’s overhang. The still included a red plastic 50-gallon barrel that was filled with fermenting corn mash and strawberries, an email to media from the sheriff’s office stated. They also located a white plastic barrel with copper worm tubing.

As for the meth lab, the bust wasn’t a total bust.

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Deputies say they also found equipment for creating a meth lab, but there wasn’t an operational lab on the property.

Jones was charged with violation of probation for resisting a law enforcement officer without violence, possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Other charges are pending.

Jones was being held in the Hillsborough County Jail without bond Friday afternoon.

Jail records indicate Jones has been arrested several times in the past on charges including drug possession and DUI.

It is unclear at this time if the strawberries in the still were Plant City’s own, but it’s a fairly safe bet. The annual Plant City Strawberry Festival  does kick off Feb. 26.

Photos courtesy of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office

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