Pubdate: Sat, 19 Apr 2008 Source: News-Press (Fort Myers, FL) Copyright: 2008 The News-Press Contact: http://www.news-press.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1133 Authors: Don Ruane, News-Press staff writer Jacob Ogles contributed to this report. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) INDOOR POT A GROWING ISSUE IN LEE COUNTY Not since the 1980s, when the Drug Enforcement Administration called Fort Myers the crack cocaine capital of the Southeast, have illegal drugs generated such notoriety for Southwest Florida. Lee County was second only to Miami-Dade County last year when it came to grow house operations in Florida, according to a report covering the activities of 40 sheriff's offices and 15 police agencies in 45 counties. Lee County was 13th in 2005. Law enforcement, including city, county and state agencies, shut down 95 grow houses in Lee County and eradicated 7,646 plants in 2007, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The agency compiles an annual report on indoor marijuana growing with assistance of the DEA. The Lee County Sheriff's Office accounted for 70 of the shutdowns and more than 4,000 plants. Grow houses even have turned into a campaign issue between the current and former sheriff. Florida was the third most active state in 2006 for indoor marijuana production behind California and Washington, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center's 2007 report on marijuana cultivation. Aggressive law enforcement statewide increased the number of grow houses discovered and plants seized over the past three years and might do so again this year, according to one law enforcement official. "After 2008 we hope to see a decline," said Inspector Jeff Beasley of the Florida DEA, which issues an annual report on indoor marijuana growing. Various investigations under way are expected to produce results this year, Beasley said. Indoor growing Indoor growing has become more prevalent over the past five years as law enforcement became more effective at spotting outdoor farms. Growers also realized they could produce four to six indoor crops annually, compared to one outdoors, and they could grow more potent marijuana. Sampling in 2006 done by the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Science at the University of Mississippi found that in grow house marijuana, the average level of tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, was above the national average. Lehigh Acres is emerging as Lee County's most fertile area for finding grow houses. The News-Press tracked Lehigh's grow house activity for the past six months by following police reports and reviewing court and property records. Authorities closed down 33 grow houses in Lehigh and seized 2,081 plants from Oct. 1 to March 31. One of the houses was already abandoned when it was discovered. The average number of plants found in the other grow houses was 65, making the average crop value about $260,000. One plant can have a street value of $4,000, said Lee County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Charlie Ferrante. Two men died during a grow house robbery and, in another case, deputies were shot at when they arrived at a house. Skill and luck Deputies are busting more houses thanks to an unprecedented effort against drugs, Ferrante said. The number of grow houses busted increased from nine between 2000 and 2004 to 131 in the past three years, Ferrante said. That effort, Ferrante said, includes increasing the number of detectives from nine to 30, increasing training for investigators and making use of the resources provided by the National Drug Information Center and the Marijuana Eradication program. The sheriff's office uses traditional sources of information from residents and other law enforcement agencies to root out marijuana nurseries. But sometimes deputies stumble upon the houses while investigating other kinds of complaints. That happened Feb. 12 when deputies responded to a report of gunfire on 19th Street Southwest in Lehigh. They didn't know beforehand a grow house was involved, according to Sheriff Mike Scott. They arrived to find two men -- later shot dead -- trying to rob a grow house. Lehigh not alone Cape Coral and Collier counties also are taking down grow house operations. Cape police busted 25 suspected marijuana grow houses in 2006 and 25 in 2007, said police spokeswoman Dyan Lee. "We have made a major push in the last couple years," Lee said. Cape police have made three grow house busts this year, the most recent April 3, when a warrant was served on a home at 1207 N.W. 21st Ave. Lee said while Cape Coral has not seen as many grow house busts as Lehigh Acres, police are carrying out a strategy to aggressively attack the problem. The March 27 cover story in the Collier sheriff's newsletter reported $3 million in seizures from 13 grow houses. Deputies found the county's 14th grow house April 8 with 33 plants. The department used $3,000 per plant to estimate their value. Grow house politics Grow house busts are becoming an issue in the Lee County sheriff's race between Scott and former sheriff Rod Shoap. Scott has suggested Shoap gave pot growers a free pass while he was in office from 2000-04. Shoap has suggested Scott is lying to shift responsibility for the emergence of indoor nurseries. In Tallahassee, the House passed a bill April 2 to strengthen penalties and make it easier to prosecute grow house cases. A companion Senate bill was approved Wednesday by the Judiciary Committee and is awaiting further action. State Rep. Nick Thompson, R-Fort Myers, sponsored the House bill. "In Florida, those who use grow houses to traffic drugs belong in prison. Under this legislation we are clearly telling drug dealers, 'if you grow, you go!'" Thompson said when his bill, which has a Senate companion, was unveiled with the state attorney general earlier this spring. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom