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Marijuana potentially worth up to $4.5 million will not be hitting the streets, the result of a federal and local drug sting.
Authorities early Wednesday morning swept through 10 suspected marijuana grow houses in Palm Beach County, seizing 300 plants and arresting seven people in the largest local grow-house sweep in recent years.
Agents from U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office also found two handguns, 50 pounds of marijuana, 11 grams of ******* and marijuana growing equipment.
Hydroponic marijuana harvested in grow houses can be significantly more potent than the drug grown in fields and woods, officials said.
"The potential profit margin is huge," DEA spokeswoman Jeannette Moran said.
A pound of marijuana grown indoors is worth up to $5,000 in the West Palm Beach area and up to $7,200 in the New York City area.
Many local growers send their marijuana up north.
Florida is known nationally as a center for grow-house operations, said Capt. Karl Durr, commander of the Sheriff's Office narcotics bureau.
Although grow houses have been a part of the South Florida landscape for decades, investigators have shut down more than 80 operations in Port St. Lucie, Sebring and Tampa in recent months, Moran said.
Federal authorities indicted 35 people in connection with running nearly 60 grow houses in Port St. Lucie.
The homes produced between 30 and 300 plants in each harvest and some homes cultivated up to 1,200 plants in a year.
Many grow houses are discovered accidentally.
In Loxahatchee, more than 100 marijuana plants were found in a house in the 16700 block of 73rd Court North in March after a 43-year-old Miami man was fatally stabbed outside the house.
A townhouse fire led Delray Beach investigators to 200 plants in the 2300 block of Florida Boulevard in May.
Officials didn't reveal what led them to the homes hit Wednesday in The Acreage and Riviera Beach areas. There were no reports of resistance, Durr said.
Arrested on drug cultivation-related charges were Jesus Cardenas, 43; Roberto Rodriguez, 38; Nelson Pena Paneque, 41; Daniel Berrios, 35; Elias Ramos-Hernandez, 31; Javier Ramos-Hernandez, 33; and Oscar Ramos-Hernandez, 32.
Newshawk: User - 420 Magazine
Source: Sun-Sentinel
Pubdate: November 2006
Author: Leon Fooksman
Copyright: 2006 Sun-Sentinel Co.
Contact: Leon Fooksman
Website: Article Here
Authorities early Wednesday morning swept through 10 suspected marijuana grow houses in Palm Beach County, seizing 300 plants and arresting seven people in the largest local grow-house sweep in recent years.
Agents from U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office also found two handguns, 50 pounds of marijuana, 11 grams of ******* and marijuana growing equipment.
Hydroponic marijuana harvested in grow houses can be significantly more potent than the drug grown in fields and woods, officials said.
"The potential profit margin is huge," DEA spokeswoman Jeannette Moran said.
A pound of marijuana grown indoors is worth up to $5,000 in the West Palm Beach area and up to $7,200 in the New York City area.
Many local growers send their marijuana up north.
Florida is known nationally as a center for grow-house operations, said Capt. Karl Durr, commander of the Sheriff's Office narcotics bureau.
Although grow houses have been a part of the South Florida landscape for decades, investigators have shut down more than 80 operations in Port St. Lucie, Sebring and Tampa in recent months, Moran said.
Federal authorities indicted 35 people in connection with running nearly 60 grow houses in Port St. Lucie.
The homes produced between 30 and 300 plants in each harvest and some homes cultivated up to 1,200 plants in a year.
Many grow houses are discovered accidentally.
In Loxahatchee, more than 100 marijuana plants were found in a house in the 16700 block of 73rd Court North in March after a 43-year-old Miami man was fatally stabbed outside the house.
A townhouse fire led Delray Beach investigators to 200 plants in the 2300 block of Florida Boulevard in May.
Officials didn't reveal what led them to the homes hit Wednesday in The Acreage and Riviera Beach areas. There were no reports of resistance, Durr said.
Arrested on drug cultivation-related charges were Jesus Cardenas, 43; Roberto Rodriguez, 38; Nelson Pena Paneque, 41; Daniel Berrios, 35; Elias Ramos-Hernandez, 31; Javier Ramos-Hernandez, 33; and Oscar Ramos-Hernandez, 32.
Newshawk: User - 420 Magazine
Source: Sun-Sentinel
Pubdate: November 2006
Author: Leon Fooksman
Copyright: 2006 Sun-Sentinel Co.
Contact: Leon Fooksman
Website: Article Here
