What’s better than a fictional television drama about a drug-dealing mommy in Stevenson Ranch? How about 1,000 pot plants in a house in North Valencia? That’s right. The SCV Sheriff’s Department, acting on a tip, found a house on Via Estancia drive today in the Tesoro neighborhood with over 1,000 pot plants worth an estimated $1 million.

Yes. Truth is stranger than fiction.

They did what any self-respecting police agency would do in such a situation: they called the media to show off the prize.

From the Sheriff’s blog:

At the location the detectives discovered a substantial indoor marijuana grow estimated to contain more than 1,000 marijuana plants. The detectives also discovered the electrical meter at the location had been [altered], which under California Law is a felony.

Indoor pot growers typically bypass their electrical meters so as not to show sustained electrical usage, or so I’ve been told.

Initial estimates indicate the street value of the plants at this marijuana grow would exceed one million dollars. The homeowner and suspect was not at the location when the search warrant was served.

Of course they weren’t at the location. I bet a neighbor became suspicious after strange visits in the middle of the night, a lack of activity during the day, and other typical signs of a drug house.

Zach Behrens over at LAist.com called Sgt. Harris at the SCV Sheriff’s office. Sgt. Harris told him that the marijuanna at the house is of a higher quality than initially thought; it may be worth in excess of $3 million.

Unfortunately, neither the fuzz nor the Signal are giving the address of the house, save for the 27000 Block of Via Estancia. If I had the address, I could look up the owner; alas.

At the time of this posting the detectives are still at the location and credentialed members of the press are invited to photograph portions of the operation and and marijuana plants.

But of course! It’s all high fives on Valencia Avenue at the Civic Center today. For good measure, the Signal already has a photo up of a pot plant, and Parimal Rohit actually used the word “herb” in his report (giggle).

Signal Article

LAist

SCVSheriff.com