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Alligator Found Guarding $1.5M Pot Stash

The gator was living in a cement tub inside the house.


HEMET (KTLA) -- Authorities raided a house in Hemet and seized almost 2,300 marijuana plants, along with a four-foot alligator that was apparently being used to guard the plants.

The Department of Justice, along with local authorities, conducted the raid at a home in East Hemet on Monday night.

Agents found the 55-pound gator named Wally, which they described as a "watchgator," in a black cement mixing tub filled with water in a back room of the house.



They also found 2,285 marijuana plants, valued at about about $1.5 million.

Agents arrested resident John Nathan Donna, 29, on felony suspicion of possession of concentrated cannabis and cultivation of marijuana for sale.

He was booked at the Southwest Detention Center in French Valley and released on $100,000 bail.

The alligator was reported to the California Department of Fish and Game, and then taken to the Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary in Phelan. The gator was said to be very healthy.

Authorities received an anonymous top that people at the home might be dealing drugs, according Allied Riverside Cities Narcotics Enforcement Team (ARCNET) Commander Brian Link.

Agents went to the house to question the owner and found the drug operation. They then obtained a search warrant.

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