# Florida Pot Grow House Bust Nets 7,000 Plants



## FruityBud (Jun 13, 2009)

Local and federal agents announced the results of a statewide drug raid on grow houses on Friday; their 30 hour operation uncovered 120 homes secretly growing massive amounts of marijuana inside.

They called it Operation Eagle Claw, and it seized close to 7,000 plants with an estimated street value of more than $30 million. The operation involved all of Florida's 67 counties.

"We are all going to be escalating our efforts to make sure that these marijuana grow houses don't escalate any further," said Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami Dade County State Attorney.

The sweep netted 142 arrests and found 15 children living under some of the same roofs with all those drugs. Those children are now in the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services. It's an alarming discovery considering the dangers associated with grow houses. The hydroponics labs used to grow the plants use massive amounts of energy and electricity. They also use chemicals. Those three elements can be highly explosive and agents say the chemicals often pollute the ground water.

"It has so many ramifications that if somebody were to think about it, it's one of the biggest problems that is affecting south Florida and the country," said Captain Joe Mendez, of South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

It was a frightening discovery for many of the neighbors who live near the raided homes. Most had no idea they were sleeping so close to this hidden danger.

One woman living near a grow house in Southwest Miami-Dade said she suspected it. She doesn't want to be identified. But she recalled the signs. "People were hardly living there," she said. "There was a boy that would come in the evening, and then he would leave and the house would be empty and I thought that was very strange to buy a house that was fairly expensive for him to not be living there."

Miami Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle stated, "Organized crime has crept into our residential neighborhoods through the virus-like increase in hydroponic marijuana grow houses. The violence and gun activity, which are always a part of the atmosphere associated with these perceived high-profit enterprises, can easily spill out onto our streets. We have put together a massive law enforcement machine in our continuing efforts to eradicate every single one of these dangerous and illegal operations. We intend to keep our neighborhoods safe."

*hxxp://shuurl.com/O5244*


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## ArtVandolay (Jun 13, 2009)

There are so many grow houses in all the foreclosed houses down here!  It's inexcusable to be charging $100 half oz.  Half the world's mj supply must be coming from here.


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## NorCalHal (Jun 13, 2009)

How did they find 120 houses???

I wouldnt go near a hydro store in florida.


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## viper1951 (Jun 13, 2009)

I like the part where they explain that all the chemicals were" highly explosive"  Watch Out World! all the farms fields in your neighborhood is going to blow up Don't drop that fruit is might explode! shows there intelligence once again
 and we wonder why they became cops , they couldn't qualify for any thing else!
Damn there Stupid


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## JBonez (Jun 13, 2009)

an average of less than 2 homes per county? Lame, your gonna have to do better than that johnny, catch me if you can.


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## mrkingford (Jun 13, 2009)

NorCalHal said:
			
		

> How did they find 120 houses???
> 
> I wouldnt go near a hydro store in florida.


 

I just watched on tv "America's Most wanted", they were in Florida and were tracking people downloading child porn, they found and got warrants and arrested 77 people. They have this BRAND NEW technogoly and software in this mobile van they drove to the houses with the police and warrants and took the computers and made arrests.
It was all done by tracking the internet in a matter of minutes.

Makes me wonder if or when they will use that same technogoly to find people who post on sites like this and grow.

The govermment now has the ability to track ANYONE ANYTIME for ANYTHING.


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## JBonez (Jun 13, 2009)

mrkingford said:
			
		

> I just watched on tv "America's Most wanted", they were in Florida and were tracking people downloading child porn, they found and got warrants and arrested 77 people. They have this BRAND NEW technogoly and software in this mobile van they drove to the houses with the police and warrants and took the computers and made arrests.
> It was all done by tracking the internet in a matter of minutes.
> 
> Makes me wonder if or when they will use that same technogoly to find people who post on sites like this and grow.
> ...



You have a lot of faith in our government, i served this government for 5 years, and yeah, while they have great funding via r&d, they are not nearly advanced as you think, and what you dont see is a government with not much money. The Navy cannot even afford paint and preservation tools for its ships, but they are spending millions on ways to peep in on people????? Doesnt really make sense.

Its funny, i remember how many missions went south because of "advanced intel"

sure, the "government" could investigate a small grow op, but i can assure you, they tend to leave that to the locals, they step in after the arrests are made and make it a federal case.


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## xxdjbud420xx (Jun 14, 2009)

and doesnt the nutes you put in the water dissipate?


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## greenfriend (Jun 14, 2009)

ArtVandolay said:
			
		

> There are so many grow houses in all the foreclosed houses down here! It's inexcusable to be charging $100 half oz. Half the world's mj supply must be coming from here.


 
$100 half oz?  Ha, maybe if you want brick weed from mexico.  half the worlds mj supply DOES come from where i live, youd be lucky to get $160 a half for the bomb we grow here


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## mrkingford (Jun 14, 2009)

JBonez said:
			
		

> You have a lot of faith in our government, i served this government for 5 years, and yeah, while they have great funding via r&d, they are not nearly advanced as you think, and what you dont see is a government with not much money. The Navy cannot even afford paint and preservation tools for its ships, but they are spending millions on ways to peep in on people????? Doesnt really make sense.
> 
> Its funny, i remember how many missions went south because of "advanced intel"
> 
> sure, the "government" could investigate a small grow op, but i can assure you, they tend to leave that to the locals, they step in after the arrests are made and make it a federal case.


 

All i can tell you is that they ( police)got on the internet, found people downloading porn, got a warrant and DROVE the van with tons of cops to THE EXACT house. All this within 24 hours !
Watch it yourself
All i'm saying is Any internet address can be traced in a snap as i watched happen. If they are willing to do that for pictures i dont see why they wouldnt do it for drugs when they keep what they confiscate.
Don't under estimiate.


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## MindzEye (Jun 15, 2009)

FruityBud said:
			
		

> The sweep netted 142 arrests and found 15 children living under some of the same roofs with all those drugs. Those children are now in the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services. It's an alarming discovery considering the dangers associated with grow houses. The hydroponics labs used to grow the plants use massive amounts of energy and electricity. They also use chemicals. Those three elements can be highly explosive and agents say the chemicals often pollute the ground water.
> 
> It was a frightening discovery for many of the neighbors who live near the raided homes. Most had no idea they were sleeping so close to this hidden danger.



I have said it before and I will say it again!! WHAT DANGER WAS THERE? They used a lot of electricity, well so does my air conditioner.... Explosive chemicals used in a grow room?????? What chemicals are those? I will go in and hold a lighter to my nutrients and see if they catch on fire, guess what it didnt light on fire and there are no flamable chemical warnings anywhere on the label!!!! And poluting ground water, well then the feds better come and raid my neighbors house because I saw him using Miracle grow on his lawn today... They better outlaw that highly explosive miracle grow stuff...

Im sure those 15 kids are in much better homes now, sitting in a state run group home with a bunch of problematic kids, Im sure they are in good hands now....

THEY ARE BRAINWASHING AMERICA!!!!!


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## CoronacaliGrow (Jun 15, 2009)

What I don't understand is the fact that all the federal jails are being overcrowded with MJ offenses,and yet they let go the criminals that are violent on parole and probo. with not much check ups and all,when are they going to realize that weed may be illegal but that the biker gangs manufacturing meth and crack and coke are alot more EXPLOSIVE then our said dynamite nutes..its like when we were kids and we would lie about small things to our friends to make the story sound better,they should grow up..or start GROWING!


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## Super Silver Haze (Jun 15, 2009)

im sure the state of fla has those kids best interest in mind but they need to take a step back and look at how broken Florida DCF is.  kids are lost within the DCF system and some even murdered by those put in place to protect them.


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## cubby (Jun 15, 2009)

At 7000 plants per 120 houses that's only 58.3 plants per house, certainly not worth the expense to the taxpayer, but then again if the cops were'nt doing this someone might actually expect them to do some real crime fighting/prevention. The bit about the chemicals getting into the ground water is a joke. They know there is no chemical pollution hazzard, this is a way to try to recruit people who are already hyper-enviromentalists (little do they know many enviromentalists are also smokers). The Florida legal community is obviously trying to equate Mj grow houses with Meth labs.
Knowing the reactionary responses of law enforcement, conservative citizen organizations, and the lot, it's not suprising that this type of hogwash is blown all out of proportion.
The fact that most people now realize that MJ is not the big bad boogey man they have made it out to be scares them. How dare people think for themselves?


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## cubby (Jun 15, 2009)

mrkingford said:
			
		

> Makes me wonder if or when they will use that same technogoly to find people who post on sites like this and grow.
> 
> The govermment now has the ability to track ANYONE ANYTIME for ANYTHING.


 


     I agree that a resonable amount of care and security goes along with a grow op. But there's a point where caution ends and paranoia begins. Government conspiracies, secret organizations and the lot......Tin foil hats all around.


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## growright35 (Jun 15, 2009)

Out of all the stories this is the one that got me. Right here at home, lucky me, supplyin myself only. Can only finish 5 clones in my fridge growbox and probably wont crank it up again. Fortunatly it is really stealth but if just if it came to be known I would receive the same initial treatment, kids gone in the hands of morrons and life harder than it already is. I love my MJ and love my hobby of supplyin my own meds but dont think I can risk it any more. What ashame it is..........GREEDY GOVERNMENT. By the way Thanks MP for the knowledge so maybe oneday i can grow again.


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## StoneyBud (Jun 15, 2009)

A bunch of these busts happened within local news distance of my grow room. I have to say, I wonder exactly what really turned them onto each place. Specifically.

I'm willing to bet it's a case of loose lips causing the entire thing to come down.

Had it been aerial surveillance with IR or what-not, they would have gotten my room as well. They didn't.

It leads me to think they already knew exactly who they were taking down and where they were, exactly, long before they took them all down.

In my little group of people, (my med users and me), none of us would ever say a word about the topic to another person.

Heck, with one exception, they're all old people like me. They're using it to ward off old peoples pains and it works. Sort of a Joint for a Joint.

I do wonder who told the cops where each house was. Probably several snitches. Each snitch narcing from fear of prison more than likely. Or just to get a snitch pat on the back.

Man, the cops price book is awesome. If I ever get to sell legally, I want to sell to cops using their own prices.


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## NorCalHal (Jun 17, 2009)

StoneyBud said:
			
		

> Man, the cops price book is awesome. If I ever get to sell legally, I want to sell to cops using their own prices.


 

That would mean profit tho.......



			
				Stoneybud said:
			
		

> In my little group of people, (*my med users and me), *none of us would ever say a word about the topic to another person.
> 
> Heck, with one exception, they're all old people like me. They're using it to ward off old peoples pains and it works. Sort of a Joint for a Joint.


Unfortunatly, there are NO MMJ users in Florida. Florida has no MMJ laws on the books, so essentially, there cannot be MMJ in a State that does not recognise it.
Florida is fast becoming the picture book of Illegal grows in the US.


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## WeedHopper (Jun 17, 2009)

Loose Lips 95% of the time,,everytime!!


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## WeedHopper (Jun 17, 2009)

Loose Lips 95% of the time,,everytime!! OH,,the other 5% is the morons who run grow houses,,and only visits the growhouse to water plants.


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## HippyInEngland (Jun 17, 2009)

There is that number again 95/5

eace:


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## hanfhead (Jun 17, 2009)

> It's an alarming discovery considering the dangers associated with grow houses. The hydroponics labs used to grow the plants use massive amounts of energy and electricity. They also use chemicals. Those three elements can be highly explosive and agents say the chemicals often pollute the ground water.
> 
> "It has so many ramifications that if somebody were to think about it, it's one of the biggest problems that is affecting south Florida and the country," said Captain Joe Mendez, of South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
> 
> It was a frightening discovery for many of the neighbors who live near the raided homes. Most had no idea they were sleeping so close to this hidden danger.



*They make growing flowers sound like operating a meth lab.*




:watchplant:


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## StoneyBud (Jun 17, 2009)

hanfhead said:
			
		

> *They make growing flowers sound like operating a meth lab.*:watchplant:


Explosive nutrients! Damn! I have to warn General Hydroponics! Run Florest, Run! Hahahahahahaa


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## smokybear (Jun 17, 2009)

:yeahthat: 

Just my thoughts. Take care and be safe.


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## smokeytimes (Jun 17, 2009)

> seized close to 7,000 plants with an estimated street value of more than $30 million.



OK so if I divide $30,000,000 by 7000 plants I get $4286 per plant. How can they really expect people to fall for that dollar amount?

I am willing to bet these were all people they have been watching after loose lips sunk their ship way before the bust went down.


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## mr.greengenes (Jun 20, 2009)

I know it's a big state, Pencilhead, but are you okay? Sounds like good fodder for your storyline.


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