NorCalHal
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SAN FRANCISCOThe owners of two Northern California indoor gardening stores were arrested by federal drug agents on Wednesday after authorities conducted a year-long investigation they said showed the hydroponic equipment shops were at the center of a large marijuana trafficking operation.
Steven Ortega Sr. and his wife, Marla Ortega, of Byron, are accused along with their two adult sons of cultivating and selling large amounts of marijuana by furnishing growers with equipment and sometimes start-up funds from their Growers Choice Hydroponics stores in return for a share of the pot proceeds.
As part of what was termed "Operation Disco Dazed," teams of federal agents and local police seized a little more than 3,600 marijuana plants, nearly 100 pounds of processed marijuana, dozens of guns, a grenade launcher and other items during raids at 14 residential and commercial properties, Drug Enforcement Agency spokeswoman Casey Rettig said.
Growers Choice has store locations in Tracy, Hayward and Modesto. The homes, warehouses and businesses where DEA agents maintain the pot was being grown and sold are located in Tracy, Rio Vista, Fresno, Salida, Mountain House and Patterson. According to a search and arrest warrant affidavit, federal officials built their case using informants, intercepted telephone calls, electricity records and surveillance. Much of the marijuana grown as part of the operation was sold on the street in Los Angeles or shipped out of state, the affidavit states.
The owners of the two stores, Steven Ortega Sr. and Marla Ortega, appeared in court Wednesday along with the 17 other suspects, but none entered a plea. No one answered the telephone numbers listed for the three Growers Choice stores, and The Associated Press could not locate current phone listings for the Ortegas.
One of my local hydro stores. Looks like Stevie got a little big for his britches.
Steven Ortega Sr. and his wife, Marla Ortega, of Byron, are accused along with their two adult sons of cultivating and selling large amounts of marijuana by furnishing growers with equipment and sometimes start-up funds from their Growers Choice Hydroponics stores in return for a share of the pot proceeds.
As part of what was termed "Operation Disco Dazed," teams of federal agents and local police seized a little more than 3,600 marijuana plants, nearly 100 pounds of processed marijuana, dozens of guns, a grenade launcher and other items during raids at 14 residential and commercial properties, Drug Enforcement Agency spokeswoman Casey Rettig said.
Growers Choice has store locations in Tracy, Hayward and Modesto. The homes, warehouses and businesses where DEA agents maintain the pot was being grown and sold are located in Tracy, Rio Vista, Fresno, Salida, Mountain House and Patterson. According to a search and arrest warrant affidavit, federal officials built their case using informants, intercepted telephone calls, electricity records and surveillance. Much of the marijuana grown as part of the operation was sold on the street in Los Angeles or shipped out of state, the affidavit states.
The owners of the two stores, Steven Ortega Sr. and Marla Ortega, appeared in court Wednesday along with the 17 other suspects, but none entered a plea. No one answered the telephone numbers listed for the three Growers Choice stores, and The Associated Press could not locate current phone listings for the Ortegas.
One of my local hydro stores. Looks like Stevie got a little big for his britches.