cannabisnews.com: Police Uncover Manteca Marijuana Nursery 





Police Uncover Manteca Marijuana Nursery 
Posted by FoM on October 08, 1999 at 08:06:07 PT
By Ken Carlson, Bee Staff Writer
Source: Modesto Bee
  MANTECA -- It looked like a typical suburban home -- with a two-car garage and a well-groomed lawn -- all sitting on a quiet cul-de-sac. 
That was before narcotics detectives carried large grow lights, transformers and other cultivating equipment from the home and laid it on the front lawn.  On Thursday, police searching the three-bedroom home on Junge Court reported finding one of the most sophisticated marijuana-growing operations ever uncovered in this city of 47,000.  One officer compared it to a commercial nursery -- an illegal one.  Detectives seized 5 pounds of finished marijuana, worth up to $10,000, but every room of the home was being used in an operation capable of growing hundreds of plants to maturity each year and generating sales exceeding $100,000, officials said.  Taken into custody was Rhonda Taylor, 38. She will be charged with possession of marijuana for sale, conspiracy to cultivate marijuana and utility theft, Manteca police Detective Danny Erb said.  Police said they are also seeking her husband, who wasn't home when officers served a search warrant at the residence late Thursday morning.  "Most of the cultivation operations we have are one or two plants grown for personal use," police spokesman Rex Osborn said. "As far as this operation itself, it's one of the largest ones we've had in recent years."  Investigators said a tip from a Northern California drug enforcement unit led them to the home at 7:15 a.m.  Officials said that Taylor answered the door and refused to let the detectives in.  Police returned four hours later with a search warrant. Going in with a drug-sniffing dog, they found evidence of an elaborate growing operation, officials said.  It appeared that a converted garage had been used to start new plants in trays, with the plants later put into one-gallon pots and moved to other rooms, where they basked under 1,000-watt grow lights and could grow up to 7 feet tall.  With electrical fans and misters providing climate control, it appeared that the growers were attempting to produce high- grade buds, authorities said.  Officials said they found evidence that someone flushed large amounts of a leafy substance down the toilet while officers were getting the search warrant. It appeared that dozens of hemp plants recently had been removed from the growing rooms, they said.  The occupants of the home had bypassed the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. meter to steal electricity, possibly worth thousands of dollars, Erb said.  "You run lights that big for 12 hours a day and you're using a lot of electricity," Erb said.  Police said they were unsure how long the operation had been going on. The artificial lighting makes it possible to grow year-round, Erb said.  Authorities believe at least one child was living in the home, but they did not disclose the child's whereabouts. October 08, 1999  Copyright © The Modesto Bee
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