Florida Cops Bag 135 Suspects, $41M In Marijuana In Statewide Grow House Busts

Coordinated raids on suspected marijuana grow houses across Florida last week netted at least 135 arrests and seizure of high-potency pot plants worth an estimated $41 million on the street, law enforcement officials said Thursday. The raids took place Wednesday [...], from the Florida Keys to the Panhandle, and identified about 150 homes with indoor growing operations.

Brevard County: The Brevard County Sheriffs Office Special Investigations Unit dismantled a sophisticated indoor Marijuana grow operation after serving two search warrants. Sixty mature Marijuana plants were found to be growing and prepared for the cultivation harvest process. The Brevard County Sheriffs Office has dismantled 11 marijuana grow operations to date this year. See Deputies Dismantle Merritt Island Grow House.

Charlotte County: On April 30, narcotics detectives of the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office raided two marijuana grow houses in Prairie Creek Park, about 10 miles east of Punta Gorda this afternoon. These are the 9th and 10th grow houses raided so far this year in Charlotte County. A detective said there were 395 total plants seized in one home, and 123 potted plants in the other home, not counting numerous marijuana "clone" or starter plants which which were also found. See Two more marijuana grow houses discovered.

Indian River County: A statewide crackdown on marijuana grow houses found one in Indian River County this week, county sheriff's officials said Thursday. Last Wednesday, investigators allegedly found 91 marijuana plants, plus growing equipment, said one detective. During the statewide law enforcement operation that culminated Wednesday, officers found 9,249 marijuana plants in 150 homes and 135 people were arrested throughout Florida. See Grow house found in crackdown in Vero Beach.

South Florida: For the three populous South Florida counties, Miami-Dade had 50 grow houses, 49 arrests and more than 2,200 plants; Broward had nine houses, 10 arrests and more than 300 plants; and Palm Beach had 18 houses, 15 arrests and almost 1,000 plants. See Police Raid Alleged Marijuana Grow Houses In Statewide Operation (135 Arrested; Pot Plants Worth $41 Million Seized).

Columbia County: Law enforcement authorities raided three Columbia homes used as marijuana “grow houses” Wednesday night in area of upscale subdivisions and seized more than $500,000 worth of marijuana plants. The Columbia County investigations also led authorities to a home in Union County where more than 100 plants where seized. See Officials seize ‘grow houses’ worth an estimated $500,000 (Local raids were part of organized, statewide sting).

Sarasota County: Three Sarasota County homes were raided as part of a coordinated statewide crackdown at locations suspected of being marijuana grow houses. Two of the homes were in North Port and one was in Sarasota. Cops copped at least 200 marijuana plants. See Grow houses raided.

Marion County: One day after drug agents cast a wide net across the state, snuffing marijuana grow houses and uprooting plants, Marion County authorities added a fourth arrest to their tally. All together in Marion, agents found 507 plants at four separate grow houses. See Sweep halks up new drug charges.

Volusia County: Two smaller-scale grow houses were broken up on Thursday, one in Deltona and the other in Osteen. 24 plants were seized; no one was arrested. See 135 arrested, $41 million in pot plants seized in grow house raids.

Hernando & Pinellas Counties: A statewide crackdown by authorities on marijuana grow houses led to three operations being busted Thursday in Pinellas and Hernando counties. One bust resulted in the discovery of 276 marijuana plants in one house, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said. In Brooksville, Hernando County sheriff's deputies found 123 marijuana plants and about 8 pounds of loose pot in one home and seized 352 plants, about 29 pound of loose marijuana and various equipment in another. See Statewide Bust Bags Pot Grow Houses.

Clay & St. Johns Counties: About 650 marijuana plants were seized in Clay and St. Johns counties as part of a drug task force raid this week to cut down on grow houses. In Clay, the Sheriff's Office said authorities found 228 plants in four homes prompting the arrest of five people. In St. Johns, authorities found 429 plants, about a pound of processed marijuana and 11 firearms in seven homes, the Sheriff's Office said. Two people were arrested -and several arrest warrants were pending. See LAW & DISORDER: Task force seizes 650 plants in 2-county pot crackdown.

Pasco County: Pasco County Sheriff's Office Vice and Narcotics Unit say they have made an arrest in a marijuana growing operation. Officers say they found 117 marijuana plants amd $2,000 in cash. See Marijuana grow house bust in Pasco County.

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"Operation Family Tree" Busts Network Of 18 Marijuana Grow Houses In Central Florida; All Said To Be Rental Homes

In Pinellas County, Florida, The Tampa Tribune reports:

• After a months-long investigation prompted by an anonymous tip, authorities [last week] swooped down on 18 marijuana grow houses they say were coordinated by one man. Eighteen people were arrested and about $31,000 was seized, said Pinellas County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Marianne Pasha. Detectives also dismantled the operations, confiscating more than 850 plants along with humidifiers, air conditioners, lamps and filtration systems used to grow them. [...] The operation was given the name Operation Family Tree because many of the suspects are related by blood or marriage or were friends.

***

• Rental homes were used for the grow operations, he said. Some were found today to contain as few as 23 plants; some had up to 100. Investigators say the coordinated effort annually could have produced a harvest worth more than $4 million.

For more, see;

• Pinellas Drug Sting Nets 18 Grow Houses, 18 Arrests,
• Pinellas County Sheriff's Office news release.

For a recent story on marijuana grow house busts in neighboring Hillsborough County, Florida, see Sheriff's Grow House Crackdown Bears Fruit. Go here for Hillsborough pot farm map for Marijuana grow houses busted by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department.

Go here for Suburbs the New Hot Spot For Pot Growers, a story originally published in the Daytona Beach News Journal of a Central Florida pot farm operator who set up his operation using dozens of suburban homes rented from landlords before ultimately landing in the slammer.

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Law Enforcement Battles Against Indoor Pot Farms Span The Country

The Associated Press reports:

• Officers fighting networks of indoor marijuana factories took out what they called a major operation Wednesday in a secluded back room of a house [in Miami, Florida] where a nice older lady sold ice cream to kids. The raid targeted a sophisticated pot-growing operation that could net more than $300,000 a year, authorities said. [...] Law enforcement officials from Seattle to Miami are grappling with the spread of sophisticated indoor marijuana farms, often run by ethnic gangs, that produce hundreds of pounds each year.

***

• [The busts] are part of a coordinated local and federal law enforcement crackdown on indoor marijuana grow houses. Last week in Seattle, authorities arrested 15 people and raided two garden shops that were part of a Vietnamese drug trafficking group accused of operating at least 19 marijuana grow houses around Puget Sound. One San Francisco-based ethnic Chinese drug ring operated at least 50 marijuana grow houses in the Bay area that could produce pot valued on the street at $94 million, authorities claim. Major indoor marijuana rings have also been discovered recently in Atlanta, Houston and New England.

For more, see Quiet houses across the country hide pot-growing operations.

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'Operation Growing Pains' Shuts Down 36 South Florida Indoor Pot Farms; Nab 39 Suspects, Seize $9M In Product

In Miami, Florida, WFOR-TV Channel 4 reported last week:

• Nearly $9 million worth of marijuana won't make it to the streets of South Florida following a drug sweep in Miami-Dade County. Miami-Dade police teamed up with agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency for "Operation Growing Pains" which targeted dozens of suspected hydroponics labs.

• In total, the two agencies took down 36 so-called 'grow houses' and made 39 arrests. More than 1,500 plants were confiscated that equaled more than two-thousand pounds of pot. The street value of all that marijuana is nearly $9 million. Police also confiscated eight firearms, $23,000 in cash as well as other drugs including ecstasy and cocaine.

Source: 'Operation Growing Pains' Nets $9 Million In Pot (Miami-Dade Police Teamed Up With DEA For County-Wide Drug Sweep, 36 Grow Houses Busted, 39 Arrests).

Go here to watch WFOR-TV video: $9 Million In Pot Seized In Hydroponic Lab Sweep.

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SW Florida Cops Cop $3.6M In Contraband In Statewide "Operation D-Day" Grow House Busts

In Southwest Florida, WBBH-TV Channel 2 reports:

• Forty seven counties, including Lee and Collier counties, participated in "Operation D-Day," a statewide initiative aimed at shutting down marijuana grow houses. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office did a sweep in Lehigh Acres and arrested ten people. Deputies checked 55 houses - 12 of those were grow houses. They seized 740 plants worth an estimated $3 million. The Collier County Sheriff’s Office shut down eight grow houses, all in Golden Gate Estates. They seized 200 plants worth an estimated $600,000 and arrested nine people.

For more, see $3.6 million in pot seized in Lee, Collier.

In a related story from the Florida Attorney General's office, see Attorney General Praises Passage of the Marijuana Grow House Eradication Act.

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Foreclosed Owner Walks Away Leaving Behind $800K In Marijuana, Pot Farm Equipment, Moldy Home

In Bloomington, Minnesota, KAAL-TV Channel 6 reports:

• An inspector, changing the locks on a foreclosed home, discovered a major drug operation in Bloomington Thursday. Police in full HAZMAT gear spent the day hauling lights and other equipment used to grow marijuana from the home near 98th Street and France Avenue.

***

• Police said they seized 200 marijuana plants worth up to $800,000 on the street. Investigators also found a big mess inside. "There is a lot of dirt and mold growing up the sides of the walls," said Bloomington Police Commander Jim Ryan.

For more, see Pot bust in foreclosed Bloomington home.

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).

Editor's Note:

It could be that the marijuana crop left behind by the pot farmer may have been contaminated by the presence of mold, possibly making the stash worthless.

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Indoor Pot Farms A Threat To Firefighters, Public Safety

In Lee County, Florida, The News Press reports:

• Grow house operators often rewire homes to steal electricity to run high intensity lights, pumps and air conditioning. "Anytime you're messing with the meter it could kill you," said Karen Ryan, spokeswoman for the Lee County Electric Cooperative. There are 14,000 volts in the wires at the pole, Ryan said. Transformers reduce that to 220 or 110 volts at the meter.

• Rewiring the house creates risks for firefighters, too. "Generally they don't catch fire," said Lehigh assistant fire chief Solon Duncan. "The main thing is we have no way to shut the power off," Duncan said. Growers bypass the electric meter to conceal their thefts. They might alter the box where the meter plugs in or run wiring underground from a nearby house, Duncan said. Growers also will block windows, which eliminates escape routes for firefighters who might have to fight a fire inside the building. "They do booby trap these places to hurt anyone trying to get in there," Duncan said. An example would be wiring a door to shock anyone trying to enter the house.

For more, see Grow houses can impact utility bills, public safety.

In Lee County, Florida, Lehigh Acres has apparently been a busy place for recent marijuana grow house busts. Go here for an interactive map of the location of 33 grow house busts in Lehigh Acres from Oct. 1, 2007 - March 31, 2008.

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Miami Feds Bust Mortgage Fraud/Marijuana Grow House Operation; 10 Of 18 Homes Financed With Fraudulently Obtained Loans Used As Indoor Pot Farms

In Miami, Florida, the U. S. Attorney's Office (Fla. Southern District) announced last week the indictment of nine Miami residents(1) allegedly involved in a mortgage fraud scheme used to finance the purchase of a number of homes used in a marijuana grow house operation. An excerpt from the press release:

• [A]s set forth in the Indictment, from on or about March 2, 2004, and continuing through about May 1, 2008, [eight of the defendants] were the buyers and sellers of real estate in St. Lucie County, Miami-Dade County, Lee County, Columbia County, and Marion County, Florida. At least ten of the houses were purchased through fraudulent mortgage applications, and after purchase, were used and maintained as marijuana grow houses. The defendants made false representations of material facts in mortgage applications, thereby causing mortgage companies to issue mortgages for the purchase of 18 houses.

***

• The Indictment further alleges, on a number of the fraudulent transactions, the loan officer was defendant Magalys Fajardo, a/k/a Magalys Rodriguez, who was employed by mortgage brokers, LendAmerica Home Loans, Bluetrust Capital, and Monster Mortgage, Inc.(2) [...] The aggregate dollar amount of all loans procured fraudulently by the defendants from the mortgage lenders exceeded six million dollars.

For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Miami Residents Indicted In Marijuana Grow House, Mortgage, And Money Laundering Scheme.

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(1) The indicted defendants are: Manuel Pupo, a/k/a Tata, Elieser Pupo, Serguey Pupo, Elmer Pupo, a/k/a Elmes, Maritza Perez, Noel Albanes-Gomez, Omar Cardenas, Zenaida Rodriguez and Magalys Fajardo, a/k/a Magalys Rodriguez.

(2) Reportedly, as part of the mortgage lending process, the defendants, via Magalys Fajardo, a/k/a Magalys Rodriguez, allegedly submitted fraudulent Uniform Residential Loan Applications, Requests for Verification of Employment, Requests for Verification of Deposit, IRS Forms W-2, payroll stubs, bank statements, as required by the mortgage lenders, through the mortgage broker to the lender for review and credit worthiness approval. pot grow ops beta

Colorado Couple Arrested For Using Stolen IDs To Rent Expensive Homes From Property Owners For Use As Indoor Pot Farms

From the Front Range of Colorado, The Denver Post reports:

• Expensive homes in three Front Range counties have allegedly been rented by a couple who have used them to grow marijuana, according to the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Department. The suspects were identified as Brian Wayne Coplen, 24, and Melissa Violet Haraldson, 21. The couple are accused of renting high-end homes in Arapahoe, Douglas and El Paso counties, often using stolen identities to shield themselves and to obtain the necessary utilities to carry out their marijuana-growing operations. Authorities know of at least five properties where the couple grew marijuana, according to Sgt. Larry Etheridge, spokesman for the South Metro Drug Task Force.

For more, see Arapahoe sheriff: Pair rented houses to grow pot.

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Detroit Feds Bust Two Dozen Indoor "Purple Pot" Farms; I.D. Theft, Forgery, Phony Appraisals Allegedly Used To Get Mortgages On Some Of The Houses

In Detroit, Michigan, The Associated Press reports:

• A major marijuana ring in southeastern Michigan involved 22 people and two dozen homes where a potent variety of purple pot was secretly grown and sold, according to a federal indictment unsealed [last week].

• Brian Osburn, 33, of Belleville is accused of being the leader since 2002. He's charged with conspiracy, running a criminal enterprise and aiding mortgage fraud. The 24 grow houses were in Wayne, Oakland and Washtenaw counties. The indictment says some houses also were used to get mortgages through identity theft, forgery and phony appraisals.

For more, see Feds say dealer sold potent purple pot.

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Cops Seize $4.5M In Pot Found In Grow Houses In Foreclosure; Allege Theft Of $100K In Electricity To Power Operations

In Fontana, California, The San Bernardino Sun reports that a Southern California man faces drug charges after police say they seized $4.5 million worth of marijuana from two of his foreclosed houses.

• Angel Wayhang Kou, 30, of Rancho Cucamonga was booked into jail on suspicion of cultivating marijuana, maintaining a residence for drugs, theft of utilities and conspiracy.
  [...] "The likelihood of other people being involved is probably high," said police Sgt. Jeff Decker.

***

• Narcotics officers estimated the street value of the marijuana in the two houses at $4.5 million. [...] "They had probably well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment in both homes, between the lights, the electrical, the water, the filtering and venting systems," Decker said. Police said Kou stole about $100,000 in electricity from Southern California Edison between the two homes by bypassing electrical boxes.

For more, see Big pot seizure.

See also: The San Francisco Chronicle: $4.5M in pot seized from two SoCal houses in foreclosure.

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Real Estate Agent Finds Two Starved Dogs In Foreclosed Marijuana Grow House

In Richmond, British Columbia, Richmond News reports:

• The SPCA is looking for the owner or owners of two German shepherds abandoned in a former marijuana grow operation, with the prospect of laying animal cruelty charges. A real estate agent found the dogs -- one dead, the other starving -- on Monday when she went to change the locks on a house that had been handed back to the bank in a foreclosure.

***

• The house had been the subject of a search in January by Richmond RCMP, who found a marijuana grow operation. Two males were arrested, but it appears no charges have yet been approved by the Crown. They therefore cannot be identified. The two men who were arrested in connection with the grow operation did not own the house, said Richmond RCMP Cpl. Jennifer Pound.

***

• Pound said police officers who conducted the search were aware that there were dogs in the house, but did not remove them from the house or follow up to make sure they were OK because the two men who were arrested were released. It appears the [...] house was simply abandoned, along with the dogs.

For more, see Two dogs left to starve in grow-op. pot grow ops beta

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.

***

• 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

Omaha Cops Bust Marijuana Grow House In Foreclosure; Score 400+ Plants In Raid

In Omaha, Nebraska, KETV Channel 7 reports:

• Omaha police arrested two men in what they called a major marijuana-growing operation at a home near 120th and Douglas streets. Police said they seized more than 400 plants during a raid at the home. [...] “They had reports of people going in and out of the house at night, which they weren’t supposed to be,” said Omaha Police Department spokesman Michael Pecha. He said officers needed to use the powers of a real estate inspection to unlock the case. “We went into the house to change the locks because it was undergoing foreclosure procedures,” he said. Holed up behind the windows, officers found marijuana plants covering the entire home, from fresh saplings to hydroponic plants that were fully grown.

Reportedly, narcotics officers came out with three truckloads of grow lights, fans, sophisticated water filtration systems and other items.

For more, see Police Raid Marijuana Grow House (Officers Seize 421 Plants, Make 2 Arrests). Go here for video coverage of the story.

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Foreclosure Purchaser Unwittingly Buys Booby-Trapped Ex-Marijuana Grow House; Bomb Squad Called In To Diffuse Explosives

In St. Lucie County, Florida, WFLX-TV Channel 29 reports:

• An electrician makes an explosive find in the attic of a local home. The previous owner had left a booby trap. The people who bought the home got it in foreclosure. It was a fixer-upper, and they were having some work done on it. But they had no idea about the danger that remained: A bomb in the attic that could have gone off at any moment.

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• An air conditioning contractor was working on the air ducts in the attic when he found the device and immediately dialed 911. "It's a booby trap," said St. Lucie County Lieutenant Larry Hostetler. Turns out, the home was a marijuana grow house shut down by the St. Lucie County Sheriff's office in 2006. The device had a trip wire attached to it and could have set the whole house on fire. Booby traps are used "to conceal evidence or injure law enforcement officers who are taking down the grow house," said Hostetler.

For more, see Bomb squad diffuses potentially explosive situation.

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SW Florida Cops Score $200K+ In Contraband In Foreclosed Marijuana Grow House

In Collier County, Florida, the Naples Daily News reports:

• Investigators with the Collier County Sheriff's Office uncovered 68 marijuana plants with an estimated street value of $204,000 from a suspected grow house located at 2420 10th Ave. N.E. in Golden Gate Estates around 2 p.m. Tuesday. Nobody was inside the house when deputies executed the search warrant, according to sheriff’s reports.

• The house is involved in a bank foreclosure, according to a news release from the sheriff's office. Bank agents notified the Sheriff’s Office after they found suspected marijuana plants growing inside the house during an inspection they were conducting on the property, reports said. Investigators also turned up assorted equipment used for growing marijuana valued at $10,000, reports said.

For more, see Marijuana in Estates growhouse bust worth more than $200,000.

Go here to view interactive map of growhouse busts in SW Florida and around the state.

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Lender's Rep Stumbles Into Indoor Pot Farm While Changing Locks At Home In Foreclosure; Cops "Bag" 60 Marijuana Plants, One Suspect

In Vero Beach, Florida, TC Palm reports:

• Authorities on Thursday discovered a home going into foreclosure was being used as a marijuana grow house. Eric Sotero Martinez, 26, [...] was charged with cultivation and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. He was also charged with possession of illegal mushrooms. [...] The operation [...] was owned by Martinez’s fiancee, according to his arrest affidavit.

• A representative of a holding company went to the home to have the locks changed as part of foreclosure proceedings, the affidavit said. He told the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office he discovered the marijuana plants inside the home when he went to change the locks. Investigators found 60 marijuana plants in a bedroom of the Stockbridge home along with industrial lights, a carbon dioxide machine and several fans, the affidavit said. Martinez’s fiancee said the plants were the second crop he had grown, the affidavit said. Detectives also found more than a pound of packaged marijuana and four bags of mushrooms in the home. The case is still under investigation, but Martinez’s fiancee will not be charged, sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Jeff Luther said.

Source: Man changing locks on Vero Beach house finds leafy surprise inside. pot grow ops beta

Foreclosure Eviction Results In Discovery Of Mini Marijuana Grow House

In Chicago, Illinois, WBBM Radio 780 reports:

• Officers on the scene to evict a Chicago man ended up arresting him after finding a room “filled with growing marijuana plants.” Cook County Sheriff’s police arrived at 4548 S. Prairie Ave. to evict 35-year-old Arkey Washington for mortgage foreclosure, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s department. [...] Aside from finding an unloaded handgun on the floor and “two large containers of marijuana” which appeared to be packaged for street sale, officers found a bedroom containing a “sophisticated marijuana growing operation,” the release said. [...] The Sheriff’s police seized all of the drugs and the gun, and estimate the street value of the marijuana to be about $60,000.

For the story, see Eviction Attempt Finds a Garden of Marijuana.

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