In November 2016 Alva Police Officer John Caviness was contacted by neighbors about heavy vehicle and foot traffic at all hours coming and going at 204 Santa Fe. Caviness was familiar with the address and the resident, Kyle Preston Smith, from previous encounters including a search warrant served in 2015.

After the report, Caviness conducted surveillance of the address, observing a large volume of traffic at all hours. He also noted that many of the vehicles he saw were registered to people having current or past history of illegal narcotic usage. Caviness also interviewed several people about...