FBI, LAPD, DEA bust pot operation in Van Nuys

[bigbrokush]

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=8043609

NORTH HILLS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Authorities busted a marijuana-growing operation at a warehouse just north of the Van Nuys Airport on Wednesday.
FBI, LAPD and Drug Enforcement Administration officials raided the warehouse located along the 16700 block of Schoeborn Street shortly after 11 a.m.

The raid was part of a wider investigation into illicit marijuana cultivation operations and associated crimes within Los Angeles County.

No further details were immediately available regarding arrests or the amount of marijuana found at the warehouse.




There is video to this also

 

[vta]

it gets worse....

LA TIMES

Officials from the FBI, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and the Los Angeles Police Department seized thousands of marijuana plants while serving search warrants across the San Fernando Valley on Wednesday.

Officials released no details, but law enforcement sources said six warehouses and residences were searched for evidence of marijuana cultivation and other criminal activity. Thousands of pot plants were confiscated, the sources said.

It was not immediately clear whether arrests were made, but dozens of law enforcement officers were involved in the operation.

The searches occurred in communities including Palmdale, Sherman Oaks, North Hollywood, Canoga Park, Van Nuys.

 

[vta]

more

Looks like the long arm of the law fanned out across the San Fernando Valley and Palmdale today to raid alleged pot-growing operations.

The Los Angeles Times first reported news of the search warrant operations at six warehouses in Palmdale, Sherman Oaks, North Hollywood, Canoga Park, Van Nuys.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller issued this statement through the LAPD:

Multiple agencies, including the DEA, LAPD and FBI and assisting agencies, are executing multiple search warrants in Los Angeles County, seeking evidence of illicit marijuana cultivation and associated criminal activity. Due to the ongoing nature of this investigation, no further comment will be made.

The raids come on the heels of a search warrant move by the DEA on a pair of pot shops in West Hollywood.

It's not clear if these grow operations had any connection to legal dispensaries, but pot advocates are angry at the DEA for going ofter weed retailers after the administration of President Obama essentially told them not to.

So-called caregivers in California are allowed under state law to grow a limited supply of pot for their dispensaries.

But federal law doesn't recognize that right. Pot it still a grade A outlaw drug as far as Uncle Sam is concerned.

Update: A law enforcement source told us more than 5,000 plants -- likely several million worth, by our calculations -- were seized, along with luxury cars and at least $200,000 in cash.

The raids were still happening earlier this afternoon, with two locations in North Hollywood and one each in Sherman Oaks, Canoga Park, North Hills and Palmdale hit by the law.

The spots were somehow connected.

The locations were said to all be indoor hydroponic grow operations -- allegedly.

The investigation, we're told, is ongoing.

 

[dagnabit]

any grower out there today would be well served to keep 'er under 99..

 

[sog army]

depends on your definition well served.. IM a sog'er

 

[vonforne]

depends on your definition well served.. IM a sog'er

might want to change that to Scroger.

V

 

[Deft]

I bet they got bored busting on meth and coke alone.

 

[Growdsix]

grodsix.

grodsix.

any grower out there today would be well served to keep 'er under 99..

U mean like...grow six?

 

[sog army]

fuck scrog.. more crops a year.. less veg.. who cares about a few extra plants.. not me.

 

[Bullfrog44]

who cares about a few extra plants.. not me.

The FBI and DEA

 

[designer]

I wonder if an operation of this scale has connections to our neighbors to the south. Up here when they find big ops it is Asian gangs out of Canada

 

[Hydrosun]

fuck scrog.. more crops a year.. less veg.. who cares about a few extra plants.. not me.

The 5 year mandatory minimum if they decide to take you federal.

 

[Bobby Stainless]

I wonder if an operation of this scale has connections to our neighbors to the south. Up here when they find big ops it is Asian gangs out of Canada

This.

I would bet this has some organized crime ties.

 

[greenlabel]

ouch!!!

 

[wemary]

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

 

[Shcrews]

its a risky bizness

 

[Rednick]

This.

I would bet this has some organized crime ties.

I bet they weren't stealing power either!

Edit: Upon further inspection...
Six houses and 5,000 plants?

Thats 833.3repeating per house!

Did the suspects speak English, even ESL???

 

[Greenwich Pope]

I guess you cant take a politician at his word so much hope

 

[Darth Fader]

The FBI and DEA

Ya can't fix stupid.

 

[TickleMyBalls]

this is for sure gang shit. when else does the FBI get in on raids like this? usually the county and DEA have it covered. The FBI is there to link all of these together and probably get some RICO charges in on some gang.