Vacant Homes, Indoor Pot Farms Keep Southwest Florida Cops Busy

In Lee County, Florida, The News Press reports:

• Vacant houses and houses filled with growing marijuana plants keep deputies busy, the captain of the Lee County Sheriff's Office district in Lehigh Acres told the chamber of commerce Tuesday. The crime rate would be a lot lower without the vacant houses, Capt. Ed Tamayo told about 80 people at the chamber's monthly luncheon while talking about residential burglaries.

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• Lee County's code enforcement division has identified 400 cases of abandoned homes under construction. Construction sites are considered abandoned if they haven't had an inspection in six months. Deputies also have been busy with [marijuana] grow houses in Lehigh. The district closed nine houses in June. "Lately, it's become an almost daily event," Tamayo said.

• The News Star began tracking grow house raids in Lehigh Acres on Oct. 1, 2007. Law enforcement officers have shut down at least 52 operations through July, made more than 80 arrests and confiscated nearly 3,200 plants.

For more, see Vacant homes fill deputies' schedules (Captain tells chamber about area crime rates).

Go here for a KNBC-TV story on a busted Corona, California marijuana grow house operation, including a tour of the inside of the home (video only). pot grow ops beta