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Mobile police stumble onto massive indoor marijuana farm; 521 plants seized (with video) | Breaking News from the Press-Register - al.com

Mobile police stumble onto massive indoor marijuana farm; 521 plants seized (with video)

By Jillian Kramer

October 14, 2009, 9:01AM

(Photo courtesy Mobile County Street Enforcement Narcotics Team)Members of the Mobile County Street Enforcement Narcotics Team found more than 500 mature marijuana plants inside three homes in northwest Mobile County on Friday. The homes, at 6562 Jib Road W., 5400 Chutney Drive, and 5540 Kushla McLeod Road, were equipped with sophisticated irrigation and lighting systems used to grow the plants, which investigators believe were not sold locally. Five people, including one woman, have been arrested in the case. MOBILE, Ala. -- The pungent, thick aroma of marijuana stopped the officers before they reached the Jib Road home, where a billy goat, mutt and a closed-circuit surveillance system guarded the front door. The stench choked them, and they realized there were many more cannabis plants than the few they had come to collect.

They had stumbled onto a massive indoor marijuana farm, and uncovered a drug operation that extends far past Mobile's borders, to Miami and perhaps beyond, according to authorities.

In all, members of the Mobile County Street Enforcement Narcotics Team raided three homes -- 6562 Jib Road W., 5400 Chutney Drive, and 5540 Kushla McLeod Road -- on Friday night. They seized 521 mature marijuana plants and arrested six people: Juan Ramon Sabina, 48; Omar David Huezo, 21; Jose Noriega, 44; Alcides Sabina, 51; Carlo Juan Aloma, 46; and Madelyn Aloma, 36.

All are charged with trafficking marijuana but Alcides Sabina, who eluded authorities until later Friday night, when he ran his white Chevrolet Aveo off Kushla McLeod and nose-dived into a ditch, Lt. Matthew Garrett said Tuesday. Sabina is charged with DUI and carrying a pistol without a permit.

(Photo courtesy Mobile County Street Enforcement Narcotics Team) Plants seized at the Jib Avenue home. Using electricity siphoned directly from a nearby neighbor's meter, the men and woman created a lighting system so sophisticated that each barn room was illuminated by up to 50 industrial-size light bulbs fabricating the brilliance of the sun.All are dependent on the plants and each other, Sgt. John Molyneux said, working in shifts to nurture the plants at each home. "Marijuana distribution is their livelihood," Molyneux said.

Juan Sabina owns the Jib Road home Huezo lived in, and bought it from a couple early last year, according to authorities. Noriega owns the home on Chutney Drive, as well as a slew of properties in Miami, Molyneux said. And it's there, in Miami, that investigators believe the plants are shipped by trailer, boat or even horse.

Nothing's for sure, investigators caution, as they wait for bank account and other information to be returned. The plants could be shuffled across additional states' borders, or internationally. And the group could be connected to a larger drug cartel. But "we don't think they're distributing locally," Molyneux said.

In Mobile, he said, the men and woman only protect and package the plants.

They're old plants, investigators said, grown for years, not months, like common cannabis that blossoms for 8 months, then is cut from the stalk and sold.

These plants tower 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide, fighting for space in the homes' 12-by-15 feet bedrooms, their branches and leaves tangling together, leaving little space to walk.

Their buds, each the size of a pine cone, were pruned for longevity and potency, authorities said, forcing them to produce higher levels of tetrahydrocannabinol -- THC -- the main psychoactive substance found in the Cannabis plant. So potent are the buds that Molyneux estimated each is worth nearly $2,400 an ounce. One plant may have as many as 50 buds.

The plants' total worth? Undeterminable, as the largest plants can be harvested multiple times each year. Sold now, the plants could garner more than $500,000 authorities said.

At the Chutney Drive home, the plants were grown in a barn behind a half-constructed home.

Using electricity siphoned directly from a nearby neighbor's meter, the men and woman created a lighting system so sophisticated that each barn room was illuminated by up to 50 industrial-size light bulbs fabricating the brilliance of the sun. Humid air was extinguished by seven 5-ton air-conditioning units that maintained the rooms' moderate climate. The suspects' also had a legal power source. Their electric bill for September: $100.

Alabama Power officials met with investigators Tuesday to review the electrical system, and determine how the group had stolen the electricity without detection.

In a hearing Tuesday morning, authorities said all six people were denied bail, as prosecutors argued each is a flight risk. As of Tuesday night, each remained in the Mobile County Metro Jail.

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