LEE COUNTY, Fla.—A tip from the community may have prevented a potentially dangerous situation from escalating in Lee County. 

Last Friday, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office arrested a local man, uncovering a shocking cache of drugs, explosive devices, firearms, and thousands of rounds of ammunition in his possession.

The discovery took place in an apartment located at the end of Cold Stream Drive inside the Cross Creek Country Club community. WINK News was on the scene to gather details.

Inside the apartment, deputies found 27 grams of meth, eight explosive devices, four rifles, three shotguns, six handguns, and 8,000 rounds of ammunition. The man arrested, 47-year-old Christian Vasconcellos, is a convicted felon prohibited from possessing firearms.

“What just happened is, like, highly unusual for this area. We’ve never seen anything like this before,” said a neighbor named Richard, expressing disbelief over the situation.

Neighbors in the Cross Creek community were stunned by the incident, describing their neighborhood as friendly and supportive.

“People mind their own business. People are very friendly. People try to help each other out,” Richard added.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said a tip led to a traffic stop in the area, where deputies arrested Vasconcellos. He was found with a loaded firearm, 300 rounds of ammunition, and drug paraphernalia. Vasconcellos has a lengthy criminal history and is under a court order preventing him from possessing firearms.

Sheriff Carmine Marceno of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office detailed Vasconcellos’s criminal record, mentioning “everything from trespassing to warrants, failure to appear, burglary, larceny, drug possession, traffic violations.”

Thanks to the community tip, Vasconcellos is now in the Lee County Jail.

“When someone calls us, we look into everything. So when someone gives us information, we’ll look into it. And in this case, it ended up being a real big, big tip, because here we are looking into someone that could do very, very bad things,” said Sheriff Marceno.

Vasconcellos is facing charges including trafficking meth, manufacturing, and possessing explosive devices, and possession of a controlled substance.

Nicholas Karsen is a Digital Specialist and has been with WINK News since May 2023.