MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A property deep in southwestern Miami-Dade County’s rural Redland area became a multi-faceted crime scene Wednesday centering around stolen equipment and pollution, leading to the owner’s arrest on several felony and misdemeanor charges — all while he was out on probation for a past environmental crime.
Ovany Diaz, 44, was convicted of felony illegal dumping in 2022 with a probation term scheduled to terminate on Oct. 15. Police said he was also operating an illegal source-separated organics processing facility.
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Miami-Dade police said their latest investigation into Diaz began with a visit to his 16201 SW 197th Ave. property on Aug. 19. Police were looking into a skid steer, worth more than $67,000, stolen from a Redland nursery that had been pinging to the location.
An April 2023 Google Street View image shows a sign outside the property advertising a business called “Ovany Nursery,” with photos of backhoes, bulldozers and other equipment.
Police said a check of the vehicle identification number didn’t reveal any information, including whether the equipment had been stolen. Diaz, an arrest report states, claimed it had been “left on the property by a friend.”
Then, on Wednesday, police said they executed a search warrant at the property after a stolen cargo trailer tracked back there.
According to the report, not only did officers find the stolen trailer, they found the skid steer — which, it turned out, had its VIN entered incorrectly — and a massive, polluted mess.
Police said they found a large pile of yard waste and mulched material, about 12 feet tall and 30 feet wide, along with grinders, indicating that Diaz was still running an illegal source-separated organics processing facility.
Authorities described a disgusting scene.
“Throughout the piles of yard waste were large puddles of discolored water with signs of fly activity, solid waste and dead vermin,” an investigator wrote.
That’s not all, police said. Officers found three RVs not hooked up to a septic system, dumping untreated sewage into the ground.
Authorities said the area’s agricultural status and proximity to the Everglades made the pollution potentially hazardous to human health and the South Florida environment.
Diaz, who authorities said was trying to “fence” — via WhatsApp — the stolen cargo trailer and a stolen zero-turn mower it contained, was subsequently arrested, police said.
The Cuban national is facing seven felony charges, including grand theft, dealing in stolen property, operating a chop shop, felony littering and willful disregard for the environment. He’s also facing three misdemeanor counts of nuisances injurious to health and a count of failing to obtain an environmental permit.
A judge gave Diaz a bond of more than $23,000. He remained in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Thursday afternoon.