WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – A traffic stop in Winter Haven took a turn for the unusual early Thursday morning after Florida Highway Patrol troopers discovered more than a dozen live iguanas bound with zip ties in the back of a pickup truck.
The incident began around 6:30 a.m. at the intersection of Winter Lake Road and Thornhill Road. Troopers pulled over a Ford F-150 towing a utility trailer because the license plate, which was attached to a metal gate, lacked a working tag light.
The driver, identified by a Georgia ID as 32-year-old Rendon Casildo-Acdiel, reportedly told investigators a complex story about his travels. He claimed he had driven from North Carolina to Miami to pick up coconuts, then headed to Polk County to acquire fish, and was planning to return to North Carolina.
Skeptical of the lengthy itinerary for items readily available in his home state, troopers requested a K9 unit from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office…