9-foot alligator, dog-fighting ring found during drug bust at home, FL cops say

A drug raid at a Florida home led to the discovery of animals being kept illegally on the property, including a 9-foot alligator found in a small pen with no water, police said.

Marquis Williams, 49, is facing over a dozen charges in connection with animal cruelty, dog fighting and drug possession, according to Duval County records.

Officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said in a June 9 news release that they carried out a raid on a home after receiving a tip about a drug operation happening there.

They reported finding cocaine, oxycodone, marijuana and firearms, leading to Williams’ arrest.

But as officers were searching the property, they said they found dogs in poor condition, dog fighting equipment, books and trophies that pointed to a dog fighting operation. Investigators found raccoons and turtles being kept on the property as well, according to the sheriff’s office.

“The most shocking was the 9-foot alligator kept in a small, fenced area,” officers said. “The alligator had no access to water in the cage; bones scattered on the ground suggested he was being fed the other animals on the property.”

A nuisance gator trapper with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was called to the home and jumped in the pen to wrangle the animal, video shared by the sheriff’s office shows.

The trapper danced around the gator with a catch pole, occasionally touching the gator, before eventually the animal was secured.

This story was originally published June 9, 2025 at 5:01 PM with the headline "9-foot alligator, dog-fighting ring found during drug bust at home, FL cops say."