Massive pot operation is raided

Marijuana plants as big as Christmas trees are seized during a Spring Hill raid.

By JOHN FRANK, Times Staff Writer
Published November 15, 2007

Marijuana plants grow by leaps and bounds inside a house at 10463 Thornberry Drive in Spring Hill. It was one of six raided on Wednesday and had a total of 117 plants. Suspicions of electrical diversion by an employee at Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative led to the bust.
	[Special to the Times | U.S. Attorney's Office]

ADVERTISEMENT [Special to the Times | U.S. Attorney's Office] Marijuana plants removed from the house in Spring Hill. Authorities arrested eight people, none of whom had reported any income in the last 15 months. Some of the houses had multiple privacy fences.

SPRING HILL - On Killian Street, in between Lowell Avenue and Tanner Road, is a tan one-story block home with brown trim and the number 12407 to the left of the front door.

It's non-descript, unremarkable, even. It looks like all the other cookie-cutter residences packed tightly along the residential roads that twist through the maddening mess of suburbs of this quiet bedroom community.

Except this home is not a home so much as a hub for a major marijuana growing operation busted in a sweeping raid Wednesday that involved more than 75 law enforcement officers from federal, state and multiple local agencies.

Hernando County Sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Black called this a "huge operation." The numbers support that assessment: six grow houses in Spring Hill, eight arrests, at least $15,000 in cash and 700 marijuana plants worth an estimated $700,000.

Those arrested were charged with conspiracy to manufacture 1,000 or more marijuana plants, according to federal warrants released by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa. If convicted, the federal charges mean 10 years to life in prison.

The operation displayed some significant levels of sophistication, according to warrants:

The suspected growers utilized many residences where federal agents believe they were in business for about eight months to a year. The suspects reported no income to the state in the last 15 months. The indoor garden was primarily identified as the garage. The plants were in three sizes, the biggest resembling Christmas trees. All locations involved diverted electrical power at the source to avoid suspicion by the electrical company. The wiring was nearly identical at each house, as were the irrigation systems. And most used privacy fences in some cases multiple fences to conceal extra air conditioning units installed at the homes.

Charles Perry, 20, lives next door to one of the houses raided early in the morning. Told of the drug bust, he just stared in disbelief at his neighbor's home on Groveland Street. He saw the police cars parked outside but figured it was just a simple dispute of some kind.

"At first I didn't think anything was up," he said. "I know the guy who lives there. He's a grown man who just does his thing.

"That's crazy," Perry continued, still absorbing the news. "We live right here and something's going on."

Authorities began investigating the first week of October after an employee at Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative suspected power diversion and installed a second meter at the house on Killian Street. It showed the owners were stealing about three-quarters of the electricity they were consuming. Hernando deputies were notified and days later began conducting surveillance.

Soon, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration Customs Enforcement and officers from Pasco, Citrus and Sumter counties and Brooksville police became involved in the investigation.

The spying revealed a number of individuals who led to more individuals after thorough property, income and driving record checks. The number of houses involved expanded and the investigation grew deeper as authorities untangled the convoluted web of those involved.

In the end, these eight were arrested on the drug charges, according to U.S. District Court documents: Carmen Chavez, Amaury Santiago, Maria Masullo, Milko Masullo, Raquel Leon-Faife, Luis Chavez-Perez, Yudisley Leon-Vega, and Eduardo Diaz-Soler.

And the six suspected grow operations were identified as these residences in Spring Hill : 12407 Killian St. (52 plants); 12507 Groveland St. (279 plants); 4132 Weldon Ave. (212 plants); 4338 Deltona Blvd. (40 plants); and 10463 Thornberry Dr. (117 plants).

John Frank can be reached at jfrank@sptimes.com or 754-6114.

6 The number of grow houses involved in Tuesday's sweeping raids.

8 The number of people arrested during the early morning raids.

75 The number of law enforcement officers taking part in the raids.

700 The number of marijuana plants seized during the raids.

$15,000 The amount of cash seized during the raids.

$700,000 The estimated value of the marijuana plants.

[Last modified November 15, 2007, 02:31:43]