FruityBud
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Local drug agents seized about 110 marijuana plants and charged a 27-year-old man and his 51-year-old mother in connection with the illegal plants found at their homes on Thursday.
Both mother and son, who live in Marion Oaks, were taken to the Marion County Jail.
Michael Lopez was charged with trafficking in marijuana, grand theft, renting a residence for trafficking a controlled substance, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to drug agents. His mother, Nancy Smith, was charged with conspiracy to traffick in marijuana.
Lopez and Smith are the third family group to be arrested in Marion County this year on marijuana charges. Last month, Jose Guerra-Perez, 30, of Marion Oaks, and his father, Jose Guerra-O'Farril, 48, of Ocala, were arrested after officials found 205 plants at their homes.
Then Isaia Hernandez Jr., 23, and Isaia Hernandez Sr., 42, were accused of growing five marijuana plants in their back yard.
The raids Thursday were by agents with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA. It includes Marion County sheriff's deputies, Ocala police officers, and offices with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
According to agents, Lopez and his mother are from Miami. The raids on the grow houses began after agents received a tip that the two homes might have marijuana in them.
In the case of Lopez, agents went to his home at 16610 S.W. 31st Circle to conduct what's called a knock and talk with him. Once there, agents said they smelled marijuana.
Lopez was standing beside the fenced home and reportedly gave them his consent to search. About 80 plants, in 20-gallon buckets, were removed. Agents on scene said the plants had about a week left before they would have been harvested.
"It just magically grew," Lopez told the Star-Banner when asked about the marijuana. Sitting in black shorts and a white T-shirt and smoking Marlboro cigarettes, Lopez said he felt stressed.
His neighbor, John Sargent, who walked over to take a closer look, said he hardly saw any unusual activity at the home. Sargent said he spoke to Lopez a couple of times and that Lopez told him he wasn't working.
"He was working after all. He just didnt want to say what," Sargent added.
A mastiff at the residence was taken away by animal control officers. The county officials told agents they dealt with the family before with the dog being loose and mentioned that Lopez's mother lives nearby. Agents compared addresses and realized the tip for the second grow house was at that address, 1481 S.W. 167th St.
At the second home - a brown, three-bedroom, two-bath house - agents talked with Smith and noticed a closed-off room with two air conditioning units attached. They obtained a search warrant and found 30 young plants in 20 gallon buckets.
The grow houses were the sixth and seventh raided so far this year. Last year, HIDTA agents dismantled 33 grow houses, arrested 37 people and seized 2,729 plants. In 2007, agents raided 13 grow houses, arrested 16 people and confiscated 1,270 marijuana plants.
hxxp://tinyurl.com/be9tys
Both mother and son, who live in Marion Oaks, were taken to the Marion County Jail.
Michael Lopez was charged with trafficking in marijuana, grand theft, renting a residence for trafficking a controlled substance, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to drug agents. His mother, Nancy Smith, was charged with conspiracy to traffick in marijuana.
Lopez and Smith are the third family group to be arrested in Marion County this year on marijuana charges. Last month, Jose Guerra-Perez, 30, of Marion Oaks, and his father, Jose Guerra-O'Farril, 48, of Ocala, were arrested after officials found 205 plants at their homes.
Then Isaia Hernandez Jr., 23, and Isaia Hernandez Sr., 42, were accused of growing five marijuana plants in their back yard.
The raids Thursday were by agents with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA. It includes Marion County sheriff's deputies, Ocala police officers, and offices with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
According to agents, Lopez and his mother are from Miami. The raids on the grow houses began after agents received a tip that the two homes might have marijuana in them.
In the case of Lopez, agents went to his home at 16610 S.W. 31st Circle to conduct what's called a knock and talk with him. Once there, agents said they smelled marijuana.
Lopez was standing beside the fenced home and reportedly gave them his consent to search. About 80 plants, in 20-gallon buckets, were removed. Agents on scene said the plants had about a week left before they would have been harvested.
"It just magically grew," Lopez told the Star-Banner when asked about the marijuana. Sitting in black shorts and a white T-shirt and smoking Marlboro cigarettes, Lopez said he felt stressed.
His neighbor, John Sargent, who walked over to take a closer look, said he hardly saw any unusual activity at the home. Sargent said he spoke to Lopez a couple of times and that Lopez told him he wasn't working.
"He was working after all. He just didnt want to say what," Sargent added.
A mastiff at the residence was taken away by animal control officers. The county officials told agents they dealt with the family before with the dog being loose and mentioned that Lopez's mother lives nearby. Agents compared addresses and realized the tip for the second grow house was at that address, 1481 S.W. 167th St.
At the second home - a brown, three-bedroom, two-bath house - agents talked with Smith and noticed a closed-off room with two air conditioning units attached. They obtained a search warrant and found 30 young plants in 20 gallon buckets.
The grow houses were the sixth and seventh raided so far this year. Last year, HIDTA agents dismantled 33 grow houses, arrested 37 people and seized 2,729 plants. In 2007, agents raided 13 grow houses, arrested 16 people and confiscated 1,270 marijuana plants.
hxxp://tinyurl.com/be9tys
