Diamond Bar pot bust yields $12.5 million in marijuana

Wednesday, March 21, 2007 - OC Register

Police say home involved could be part of a larger operation in affluent neighborhoods.
City News Service

DIAMOND BAR -- Sheriff's narcotics officers raided a home in Diamond Bar today and confiscated an estimated $12.5 million worth of marijuana in what authorities said could be part of a larger scale operation in affluent neighborhoods throughout Southern California.

A search warrant was served on a home in the 1500 block of Eldertree Drive in Diamond Bar about 3:20 p.m., said Deputy Anthony Moore of the Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau.

About 2,100 plants were seized in the seven bedroom home, some of them valued as at much as $5,000 each on the street, Moore said.

A 43-year-old man was arrested at the home, but claimed he did not live there, Moore said.
Moore said he did not know how detectives discovered the home, but pointed out that they had enough information to get a search warrant. He also said that the home was equipped to produce high-quality marijuana plants.

The bust was reminiscent of 10 recent raids the federal Drug Enforcement Administration conducted in Northern California at homes in upscale suburbs like Diamond Bar, Moore said.
"Detectives believe … that this location could possibly be part of a larger scale operation taking place in other affluent neighborhoods in Southern California," Moore said.

Now it appears we have an idea how some of these folks in town are affording these expensive houses up on the hill-- huh?