# Thousands of pot plants seized in Southern California raids



## FruityBud (Jul 22, 2008)

Thousands of marijuana plants -- which could have generated millions of dollars a year in illegal profits -- were seized Tuesday during raids on three homes in Riverside County, authorities said.

Marijuana-growing facilities were shut down in Eastvale, Hemet and Riverside, in an operation targeting a total of eight homes in three Southern California counties. Four people were arrested, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

"Drug traffickers are using sophisticated equipment and measures to transform their seemingly quiet suburban homes into illicit marijuana grow operations," said DEA Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. Landrum.

"These lucrative illegal operations can function with little scrutiny, which makes them attractive to the criminal element, but put our communities in harm's way."

This morning's sweep involved DEA agents, Riverside County sheriff's deputies, Riverside police, San Bernardino County sheriff's personnel, IRS and U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement agents, according to DEA agent Sarah Pullen.

A search warrant was executed at one home in San Bernardino County and four homes in Los Angeles County, according to Pullen.

She said five indoor marijuana cultivation facilities were identified -- three of which were in the Riverside County locations -- containing 5,600 plants, which could have yielded $60 million a year worth of marijuana sales.

The Eastvale residence contained 1,200 marijuana plants, with an estimated value of $3.5 million, according Riverside County sheriff's Investigator Jerry Franchville.

He said the 3,500-square-foot home, which lies at the edge of Providence Park in the unincorporated community, was rigged with assorted electrical devices to saturate the home with indoor light.

"There's all kinds of wiring in this house," Franchville said.

"There's extra circuit breakers, grow lights that assimilate the sun, timers.
It's pretty intricate."

He said the marijuana growers reconfigured the home's electrical system to bypass the local utility meter, stealing roughly $4,000 a month in wattage.

The way law enforcement usually identifies these places is through the inordinately high electricity usage," Franchville said.

According to Pullen, in most of the growing facilities, carpets were torn out and holes were cut through floors, ceilings and doors to accommodate wiring. Closets and bathrooms served as storage areas for light ballasts, chemical supplies and fertilizer, she said. Windows and sliding glass doors were covered with drywall.

"These sophisticated growing operations pose an extreme hazard to our
neighborhoods with their dangerous electrical wiring and changes made to the house infrastructure," said U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien. "In addition, any large narcotics operation invites violence, which further endangers families in these suburban communities."

Most of the converted homes were purchased in newer housing developments for between $500,000 and $800,000, according to Pullen.

Suspects arrested in connection with the marijuana cultivation were identified as: Sang Vong Din, 47, of Temple City; Sehn Nguyen, 41, of Los Angeles; Quan Vi To, 51, of El Monte; and Jennifer Zhang, 44, of Temple City.

They're charged with conspiracy to manufacture 1,000 or more marijuana plants and are expected to make initial appearances today in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, said Pullen.

She said conviction on the conspiracy charge carries a minimum 10-year sentence in federal prison.

According to Pullen, today's arrests and seizures stemmed from a yearlong investigation that, to date, has led to the dismantling of 33 marijuana grow operations and the seizure of more than 19,000 plants.

*hxxp://tinyurl.com/5t3hg4*


----------



## Megatron (Jul 22, 2008)

FruityBud said:
			
		

> The way law enforcement usually identifies these places is through the inordinately high electricity usage," Franchville said.
> 
> *hxxp://tinyurl.com/5t3hg4*



This is an Invasion of privacy! I can not believe this! 
Other then that....the dumbasses who bought the 500,000 dollar houses with 1,200 plants in each, and have been profiting for a year should have invested in a propane generator or solar power! 
I do not believe in growing for profit! but this deserves my vote on invasion of privacy! *EDIT* UP!!!!


----------



## The Effen Gee (Jul 23, 2008)

"He said the marijuana growers reconfigured the home's electrical system to bypass the local utility meter, stealing roughly $4,000 a month in wattage"

Do not do this.

This is grounds for the power company to start working with local Law Enforcement.

PAY YOUR POWER BILL!!!

If you give them the money why would they shoot themselves in the foot?


----------



## Dubbaman (Jul 23, 2008)

Odd i seem to recall those same names from a bust here in my area a few months back same M.O. too cut off the meter and bypass it. They deserve what they get, greedy for profit growing is why they can lobby for it to remain illegal, its like i tell my oldest boy when you can prove to me that your responsible enough to handle a pocket knife you can have and carry one but till then its a no. If the G-Ment was to see how responsible we as growers and users are and can remain when we are permitted to grow and use what we like and do it in a responsible way they can start to ease the laws on it but when we stll have thousands of huge commercial grows going on runing the good name of MJ all they can see is the Tax money for housing an inmate and the profit of cash and product that they just take and reuse for themselves.


----------



## nikimadritista (Jul 23, 2008)

It makes me sad to see big busts like those... Same happened to my island last winter and got me into growing cause I couldn't buy it any more... I love growing but don't think anyone who smokes should grow his smoke... There should be people selling it... And this sale should be taxed and legalized... Not busted...


----------



## Megatron (Jul 23, 2008)

I am not condoning the theft.. That is their stupidity.. I'm outraged about the quote. This happens more than you think. I know my meter reader. She is cool. She told me that the power company pays her for tipping off people. Weather it be for an un-permitted project or some illegal activity. If someones usage rises beyond normal ranges, they tell the meter readers to pay extra attention.. This is **! I run large machinery in my garage, that requires lots of power. (i only use this stuff a few times per week). I know when my meter  is going to be read so I just make sure that when she comes to read, i'm running my machinery..
No questions that I can't answer! 
THe only way to be absolute, is to be off the grid.


----------



## Megatron (Jul 23, 2008)

nikimadritista said:
			
		

> It makes me sad to see big busts like those... Same happened to my island last winter and got me into growing cause I couldn't buy it any more... I love growing but don't think anyone who smokes should grow his smoke... There should be people selling it... And this sale should be taxed and legalized... Not busted...



For now we are ok with it being taxed. The minute that it becomes federally legal we will be complaining about taxing it! I'ts the government who has made us the way we are.. But who is the government?... our peers.. well, Old rich people who don't want change.. Canada looks like a refreshing change.. lol


----------



## clanchattan (Jul 23, 2008)

"There's extra circuit breakers, grow lights that assimilate the sun, timers.
It's pretty intricate."

these commercial growers light systems ate the sun?
great now i gotta get ballasts outta the van rig em and move my plant inside.
got busted and assimilated the sun rat bastards!!!!!!!!!

all these stories about busts hae (thats scots for have) one thing in common they all need a proof read by an editor.

''assimilate the sun'' thats my new signiture. peace im out.


----------



## IRISH (Jul 23, 2008)

stealing of anything is gonna get you time in the graybar hotel. hey you guys in cali , chill. you got the whole world watchin'. we get our vote in november up here, and these big grow ops' are sure gonna make it tough on all us. i think it's like 75% towards medical here today, as for tomorrow, with all this bad news coming across the AP wire, it'll prolly drop 5 more points'...


----------



## Megatron (Jul 23, 2008)

http://www.mahalo.com/California_Marijuana_Legalization
For those of us who don't vote. Read and reconsider..


----------



## GreenThumbBlackFinger (Jul 24, 2008)

any narcotics operation invites violence? they make it sound like they seized $3.2 million of meth or crack. That much bud would probably help a whole lot of people make it through the day with their sanity, and candy/soda/chips sales would skyrocket! whats the big deal? grrr why cant they just legalize it :'(


----------



## occg.hydro (Jul 24, 2008)

I would have to say, if you steal 4 grand a month in power, no matter what you're doing with it, sooner or later a meter reader is gonna come by, notice that you chopped your box and **** up your life. And yeah, if you're stealing power you SHOULD be in jail! That's grand theft brotha! Tell me that power companies aren't greedy and I'll call you ignorant. I'm sure just about any utility company would rather have the 4000 a month than not. Just pay the bill! If you've got that many plants I'm sure you'll find a way to cover it. People are too greedy. Think about it, I know the fuzz always inflates numbers like crazy, but with a $4000/mo bill you're talking about $48,000/year. I seriously doubt that $60 million per year in product is an accurate number, but assuming that they only harvest $1 million per year in product they're still left with $952,000/year after power. Better yet, take the 48,000 and invest in some solar panels and avoid the problem all together! Seems pretty stupid to me. People are idiots.


----------



## GreenThumbBlackFinger (Jul 25, 2008)

^^^^^^^^^ thats a really good point. the amount of profit they made waaaay exceeded their power usage. if they wouldve just spent a small amount of their profit on the bill, they'd still be free.


----------



## Megatron (Jul 25, 2008)

ANY and ALL narcotics invite violence... It takes a lot of time, patients, trial and error, and money to make narcotics.. I think that weed is the most time consuming. There are many lazy people in this world that don't want to earn anything.. They look for ANY way to make money with the least amount of effort. 
Drugs are one of the easiest ways to "get rich".. They have some of the highest consequince. Unfortionatlly the word Narcotic carries violence on its back, because who wants to go to prison?


----------



## HippyInEngland (Jul 25, 2008)

FruityBud said:
			
		

> containing 5,600 plants, which could have yielded $60 million a year worth of marijuana sales.


 
Thats $10,714 per plant.

Thats 35 ounces per plant if selling at $300 per ounce.

Anyone know where I can buy those seeds? :hubba:


----------



## Hick (Jul 25, 2008)

HippyInEngland said:
			
		

> Thats $10,714 per plant.
> 
> Thats 35 ounces per plant if selling at $300 per ounce.
> 
> Anyone know where I can buy those seeds? :hubba:


hee hee.. "inflation" is rampant everywhere, ehh?.. 

..not sure how it is in CA, but have heard it is pretty common for dispensary's to charge upwards of $80 p/ eighth. ($640 oz) I guess that would put the numbers in an _almost_ acceptable range..


----------



## Flyinghigh (Jul 25, 2008)

FruityBud said:
			
		

> Thousands of marijuana plants -- which could have generated millions of dollars a year in illegal profits -- were seized Tuesday during raids on three homes in Riverside County, authorities said.
> 
> Marijuana-growing facilities were shut down in Eastvale, Hemet and Riverside, in an operation targeting a total of eight homes in three Southern California counties. Four people were arrested, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
> 
> ...


 
Well there it just shows u all that these people Didn't care about there life because they Stole Elect. that got them Busted !! I don't feel for them..


----------



## occg.hydro (Jul 25, 2008)

dude, I want to "assimilate the sun"! that sounds cool, I've never heard of that before... HA! lmfao


----------



## KGB30 (Jul 25, 2008)

"In addition, any large narcotics operation invites violence, which further endangers families in these suburban communities."


----------



## KGB30 (Jul 25, 2008)

I payed $350 oz of Pink Maui


----------

