Local

Man busted with million-dollar meth stash takes plea deal

ORLANDO, Fla. — An Orange County man accused of hiding a million-dollar meth operation is taking a plea deal.

Channel 9 was there in December when the bust shocked people who live along Kristen Park Drive in the Lake Nona neighborhood.

Jose Martinez-Romero admitted in court records he was distributing meth out of his home, where he lives with his family. Romero said he'd have his distributor pull into the garage, close the door and hide the meth in the liner of the truck.

Neighbors like Charla Goff never knew the operation even existed.

"It's scary," said Goff. "You think you're in a safe neighborhood and then you find out that's going on two doors down."

Homeland Security had been watching Martinez-Romero's house and made the bust in December.

Agents said they watched as a drug courier pulled out of the garage with $120,000 worth of meth hidden in the truck bed.

The meth was confiscated when the driver got stopped for speeding on Interstate 4.

During a search of the home, agents said they found Martinez-Romero's million-dollar stash in a closet under the family's staircase.

After the raid, a Walter White doll from the television series "Breaking Bad" was spotted hanging from a car in the driveway. White played a meth cook who went on to become a master drug lord.

By agreeing to the plea deal, Martinez-Romero faces between 10 years and life in prison when he's sentenced by a judge in Tampa in June.