Deputies foil pot harvest, arrest two

Without a warrant, all the deputies could do was knock and hope for the best. They got it.

By AMBER MOBLEY, Times Staff Writer
Published August 5, 2007

CLAIR MEL CITY - Saturday was full of surprises on 20th Avenue S.

On a tip, Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies knocked on the door at 5409 20th Ave. S at about 1:30 p.m. with suspicions that they'd find a lot of marijuana.

The deputies didn't have a warrant, but the renters agreed to let them inside, where deputies found what they estimated at $30,000 worth of plants growing in pots.

"It was surprising," said Sgt. George Mosher. "I don't know why they said yes" to the search.

According to the tip authorities received from people arrested in Polk County, the marijuana was going to be harvested, and the operation - grow lights, hydroponics and all - was going to be dismantled within 24 to 48 hours.

So, forgoing a search warrant, authorities asked for consent to search.

Deputies arrested two people at the house: Mercedes Navarro, 42, and Oscar Oliva, 66. Both are charged with cultivation of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, leasing or renting for purposes of trafficking in drugs, theft of electricity and armed trafficking in marijuana because authorities found a pistol in the house, sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said. The investigation is continuing, he said.

Authorities priced the 4-foot-tall, bud-heavy plants at about $1,000 to $1,500 apiece and said that there had probably been more marijuana grown there in a room twice the size of the one they raided. That marijuana had already been harvested, said Mosher.

The deputies dumping plants into trash bags in the house's driveway was the most action neighbor Alex Hernandez said he's seen there in a long time.

"You never see them," he said of Navarro and Oliva. "You drive by here, and it's like nobody lives here."

Amber Mobley can be reached at amobley@sptimes.com or 813 269-5311.

[Last modified August 5, 2007, 01:18:33]