A “big fish” drug dealer caught hiding under a Red Level shed with a loaded rifle in September is back on the hook – this time in Lowndes County and on a $1 million cash bond for drug trafficking.

Capt. Chris West of the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office said Jeremy Lee Gardner, 42, of Red Level, was arrested in Letohatchee Monday when allegedly caught with approximately $16,000 of ICE methamphetamine, The Lowndes Signal reported. West said the arrest came after the department received a tip about Gardner’s location.

“We got information out of Covington County that the guy was coming through Lowndes County,” West said, including a description of the vehicle.  He said the arrest was made outside the Marathon Gas Station in Letohatchee.

West said a search of Gardner’s person revealed a broken stem of a pipe, money, a cell phone and keys to truck that was searched where the items were found. Inside the truck, deputies recovered digital scales, four ounces of ice (crystal methamphetamine), nearly $500 in cash, plastic bags for distribution and a money card, West said.

Gardner was charged with trafficking-methamphetamine and is being held at the John Hulett Detention Facility on a $1 million cash bond.

Gardner is no stranger to local law enforcement. He was described as a “big fish” in the Covington County drug trade after he fled from police for three days in September. He was one of nine arrested in the operation after he was found hiding under a shed on Plywood Mill

Road and armed with a loaded lever action 17-caliber, scoped rifle. He was convinced to give himself up to law enforcement, and no shots were fired.

During that sting, Drug Task Force agents seized $11,495 in cash, 278 grams of ICE with a street value of $27,000, numerous firearms and other drugs.

He was released later that month on a more than $1 million bond from that incident.