FruityBud
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Urban farming goes underground in Midtown as deputies discover an elaborate pot farm. They say a 52 year-old man and his son-in-law were the illegal entrepreneurs. They were a quiet family from Cuba who neighbors would never peg as dealers.
It all started with a tip.
From the outside, the house along Rembert is unassuming, but down an alley, towards the back of the house, sits a garage that was designed into an elaborate grow room. Inside, deputies found 26 marijuana plants roughly four feet tall along with electrical and water piping, mirrored walls, and an enclosed ventilation system. The drugs are worth nearly a quarter of a million dollars in the street. When the family allowed our cameras inside, the room still smelled of the strong odor of marijuana. Deputies say what was upstairs was just the half of it. They say downstairs they found the pot farm's nursery.
"There were 25 more plants there, not quite as tall as the ones in the garage, but about 8 inches tall," says Steve Shular with the Shelby County Sheriff's Office. "So they were baby plants that were being processed and being groomed to grow on up to the larger ones that they had in the garage."
52-year-old Robert Colio sits in jail; considered the head farmer. Deputies also arrested his son-in-law, Yordaniz Ruiz, 33, found with growing books and farming plans.
"I'm shocked. No, not that man," says Pat O'Brien who is among a group of neighbors who cannot believe the quiet family could be involved in drugs. "I don't believe that. You couldn't tell me that in a million years. You can probably ask anyone who has ever been over there they've never smelled marijuana or anything."
However, the men clearly tried hard to hide the operation. Authorities say the two also rigged a system to bypass the power meter, pumping electricity into the grow room without MLGW catching on.
"Probably thousands of dollars owed to Light, Gas and Water has not been collected. So, Light, Gas and Water is involved in this investigation and there's probably going to be more charges."
Deputies also found a gun, cash and electronics. They're calling this yet another significant find, in the heart of the city.
hxxp://tinyurl.com/cva83m
It all started with a tip.
From the outside, the house along Rembert is unassuming, but down an alley, towards the back of the house, sits a garage that was designed into an elaborate grow room. Inside, deputies found 26 marijuana plants roughly four feet tall along with electrical and water piping, mirrored walls, and an enclosed ventilation system. The drugs are worth nearly a quarter of a million dollars in the street. When the family allowed our cameras inside, the room still smelled of the strong odor of marijuana. Deputies say what was upstairs was just the half of it. They say downstairs they found the pot farm's nursery.
"There were 25 more plants there, not quite as tall as the ones in the garage, but about 8 inches tall," says Steve Shular with the Shelby County Sheriff's Office. "So they were baby plants that were being processed and being groomed to grow on up to the larger ones that they had in the garage."
52-year-old Robert Colio sits in jail; considered the head farmer. Deputies also arrested his son-in-law, Yordaniz Ruiz, 33, found with growing books and farming plans.
"I'm shocked. No, not that man," says Pat O'Brien who is among a group of neighbors who cannot believe the quiet family could be involved in drugs. "I don't believe that. You couldn't tell me that in a million years. You can probably ask anyone who has ever been over there they've never smelled marijuana or anything."
However, the men clearly tried hard to hide the operation. Authorities say the two also rigged a system to bypass the power meter, pumping electricity into the grow room without MLGW catching on.
"Probably thousands of dollars owed to Light, Gas and Water has not been collected. So, Light, Gas and Water is involved in this investigation and there's probably going to be more charges."
Deputies also found a gun, cash and electronics. They're calling this yet another significant find, in the heart of the city.
hxxp://tinyurl.com/cva83m
