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Posted: Thursday, 12 March 2009 4:23PM
Police Bust Large-Scale Pot Operation
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LANSING, Ill. (STNG) -- Police raided a south suburban garage Wednesday night and shut down a sophisticated, large-scale marijuana operation with more than 500 plants growing inside.
Cook County Sheriff’s Police narcotics officers and Lansing police executed a search warrant about 8:30 p.m. at a garage in an industrial park at 2800 Bernice Rd. in Lansing, according to a release from the sheriff's office.
Inside the 1,850-square-foot unit, officers found the growing operation, along with three men, who were taken into custody without incident, along with another man found outside, the release said. They remain in sheriff’s police custody and charges were pending as of late Thursday afternoon.
In all, the operation had 525 marijuana plants, most in the fourth week of a 12-week growth cycle, worth an estimated $1 million, the release said. According to police, the operation featured two types of plants, including one described as a "designer-type" marijuana genetically altered for higher potency.
Police believe the offenders would strip small-branch samples off a “mother plant” of the designer-type marijuana, replant them and grow new full plants, effectively cloning the original. The new plants would retain the same high potency levels, making the marijuana more sought after on the street and more lucrative to sell, the release said.
The operation featured two rectangular-shaped bays, with each plant in its own bag filled with special dirt and nutrients. Above it were high-end grow lights on a pulley system, enabling the offenders to adjust lighting as the plants grew taller.
The plants were arranged in a waterproof tray within each bay that allowed the offenders to flush the tray to water the crop. Most walls of each bay were covered with a white tarp which reflected light, and each featured several fans and a separate ventilation system designed to help the plants grow faster.
The garage had a separate drying room, complete with clothes lines, which the offenders would use to hang and dry plants before packaging for street sale.
When police raided the garage Wednesday, the three offenders had just returned from a local home construction store with a truckload of wood, the release said. Police believe the offenders were preparing to build another bay to expand the operation.
“This elaborate operation of marijuana plants was growing in near perfect conditions,” Sheriff Tom Dart said in the release. “Because these offenders could harvest the crop at least three times a year, they had the potential to easily earn millions.”
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Copyright 2009 STNG Wire, The Chicago Sun-Times. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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