cannabisnews.com: Agents Bust Major Marijuana-Growing Operation!





Agents Bust Major Marijuana-Growing Operation!
Posted by FoM on July 23, 1999 at 17:33:51 PT
Source: MSNBC
Several federal and local agencies raided more than a dozen Miami-Dade County homes and buildings Friday morning, arresting several people and taking away hundreds of live marijuana plants. They were being grown in hydroponics gardens inside the buildings.
From Aventura, to Miramar, to Miami... agents from the FBI, DEA, FDLE and several local police department burst into at least 15 homes overnight. What they found is something you perhaps would not expect to see at the house next door.  “It’s a family neighborhood. It’s pretty quiet. Everybody knows each other here...we had no clue about what was going on,” said a neighbor, Robert Medina. He says he never dreamed the quiet couple that lived across the street from him, at 2955 SW 25th Terrace in Miami, might be into illegal activity.  Medina and other neighbors watched as agents removed about 90 marijuana plants from the house Friday morning. Authorities also seized lighting and other equipment used to grow the plants, as well as cash and weapons.  “This is dangerous. I’m 72-years-old. I have never smoked in my life. I don’t even drink alcohol,” said another shocked neighbor.  “In my 27 years of law enforcement, it is the most elaborate system we’ve seen in South Florida,” said Comdr.. Tom Hunker of the North Miami Beach Police Department.  Agents say Manuel Horta was the mastermind behind the elaborate and high-tech hydroponics marijuana farm.  “What they were doing was diverting electricity so that the power company wouldn’t see the high volume of electricity used, which is needed to run this type of marijuana operation,” said acting U.S. Attorney Carol DiBattiste.  With the help of at least four others, Horta allegedly cultivated and distributed marijuana throughout an extensive network. Police arrested those five people Friday morning as a result of the on-going four month investigation.Pubdate: July 23, 1999http://www.msnbc.com/local/WTVJ/126604.asp 15 Marijuana Operations Busted - July 23, 1999http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2178.shtml 
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