Pot busts have residents weighing privacy against a need to know.
By Tony Barboza and Megan Garvey, Times Staff Writers
April 20, 2007 http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-suburbpot20apr20,1,787734.story
April 20, 2007 http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-suburbpot20apr20,1,787734.story
Crime and danger seemed so removed from one family-friendly hillside community in Diamond Bar, the local Neighborhood Watch disbanded out of lack of need.
Or so its members thought.
This week, the same neighbors who let crime-watching efforts lapse were jarred by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies descending on a two-story, red-tiled-roof home where manicured pink roses lined the walkway and the quiet new neighbors had seldom been seen.
As other homeowners looked on, deputies removed nearly 1,000 marijuana plants from the gutted home, where the bathrooms had been converted into storage space, interior walls had been removed and the electricity powering the massive growing operation had been routed directly from power lines, stealing kilowatts.
The operation was one of a dozen uncovered in the last month in normally quiet, upscale suburbs in or near the eastern San Gabriel Valley. The discoveries, which have yielded 10 arrests and more than 12,000 plants, have shaken the communities, prompting residents to question the long-held practice of respecting neighbors' privacy as long as they do the same.
"We have to go back to knocking on doors and taking flowers to our new neighbors," said Paulette Horton of Diamond Bar, who lives down the street from the formerly thriving criminal enterprise. "From now on, we're going to introduce ourselves to whoever's out in front of an empty house."
The pot busts have residents suddenly scrutinizing neighbors and calling police on newfound suspicions: a dry lawn, no bins out on trash day, windows that never open, a faint - or not so faint - smell of "skunk" in the air.
"Now I'm driving around thinking, 'Whose shades are closed?' " said Mehrbanoo Ostowari, 41, a 15-year Diamond Bar resident who was walking her miniature poodle at a neighborhood park. Part of the problem, she said, is a culture that may value privacy over interaction with neighbors.
"All people do is drive up, open up their garage, close it and go inside," she said.
For marijuana entrepreneurs, suburbia appears to be an increasingly desirable hiding spot for just those reasons.
"It seems like they're picking neighborhoods that are fairly nice - some of them very nice - where neighbors are friendly but not overly involved," said Lt. Jim Whitten of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Narcotics Bureau. "People are so busy with their lives coming and going they think they just won't be noticed, and it worked for a while, and it's probably still working in some places."
California has seen almost a quadrupling of indoor pot plants seized in the last three years, from at least 54,000 plants to nearly 200,000 in 2006. Last year, authorities shut down 50 home pot farms in Sacramento, Modesto and Stockton. Federal drug investigators tied those operations to a San Francisco-based Vietnamese crime ring.
The Los Angeles-area cases have strong similarities: recently purchased and spacious suburban homes converted into large-scale growing complexes; and illegally rerouted electrical wires that tapped directly into supply lines, avoiding huge power bills that might have attracted attention. Of the 10 people recently arrested, all but two were Asian, leading law enforcement officials to suspect a possible connection to Asian organized crime.
The houses, which often had attached garages, made it easy for growers to bring supplies in and out without their neighbors knowing. And each site used hydroponic technology - growing plants without soil. In some cases, sophisticated ventilation systems were installed to diffuse the strong odors from the plants.
At one home, sheriff's officials said a false foyer was built, shielding the view of the unconventional remodeling should anyone knock on the door.
The first major discovery was made March 14 - purely by chance. An electrical fire from an overloaded panel brought emergency crews to a spacious, peach-hued Chino Hills home.
Inside, firefighters found about 1,300 marijuana plants.
Susan Jabs, who lives next door, said she had no idea the two young Asian men who were fixing up the house were actually converting it into a massive indoor pot farm. The men would wave to her family. They even had a gardener.
When Jabs' family asked them about building a fence between their backyards, they didn't respond because they didn't speak English.
"We thought it was a language barrier," she said. "We were just grateful to have quiet neighbors."
Or so its members thought.
This week, the same neighbors who let crime-watching efforts lapse were jarred by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies descending on a two-story, red-tiled-roof home where manicured pink roses lined the walkway and the quiet new neighbors had seldom been seen.
As other homeowners looked on, deputies removed nearly 1,000 marijuana plants from the gutted home, where the bathrooms had been converted into storage space, interior walls had been removed and the electricity powering the massive growing operation had been routed directly from power lines, stealing kilowatts.
The operation was one of a dozen uncovered in the last month in normally quiet, upscale suburbs in or near the eastern San Gabriel Valley. The discoveries, which have yielded 10 arrests and more than 12,000 plants, have shaken the communities, prompting residents to question the long-held practice of respecting neighbors' privacy as long as they do the same.
"We have to go back to knocking on doors and taking flowers to our new neighbors," said Paulette Horton of Diamond Bar, who lives down the street from the formerly thriving criminal enterprise. "From now on, we're going to introduce ourselves to whoever's out in front of an empty house."
The pot busts have residents suddenly scrutinizing neighbors and calling police on newfound suspicions: a dry lawn, no bins out on trash day, windows that never open, a faint - or not so faint - smell of "skunk" in the air.
"Now I'm driving around thinking, 'Whose shades are closed?' " said Mehrbanoo Ostowari, 41, a 15-year Diamond Bar resident who was walking her miniature poodle at a neighborhood park. Part of the problem, she said, is a culture that may value privacy over interaction with neighbors.
"All people do is drive up, open up their garage, close it and go inside," she said.
For marijuana entrepreneurs, suburbia appears to be an increasingly desirable hiding spot for just those reasons.
"It seems like they're picking neighborhoods that are fairly nice - some of them very nice - where neighbors are friendly but not overly involved," said Lt. Jim Whitten of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Narcotics Bureau. "People are so busy with their lives coming and going they think they just won't be noticed, and it worked for a while, and it's probably still working in some places."
California has seen almost a quadrupling of indoor pot plants seized in the last three years, from at least 54,000 plants to nearly 200,000 in 2006. Last year, authorities shut down 50 home pot farms in Sacramento, Modesto and Stockton. Federal drug investigators tied those operations to a San Francisco-based Vietnamese crime ring.
The Los Angeles-area cases have strong similarities: recently purchased and spacious suburban homes converted into large-scale growing complexes; and illegally rerouted electrical wires that tapped directly into supply lines, avoiding huge power bills that might have attracted attention. Of the 10 people recently arrested, all but two were Asian, leading law enforcement officials to suspect a possible connection to Asian organized crime.
The houses, which often had attached garages, made it easy for growers to bring supplies in and out without their neighbors knowing. And each site used hydroponic technology - growing plants without soil. In some cases, sophisticated ventilation systems were installed to diffuse the strong odors from the plants.
At one home, sheriff's officials said a false foyer was built, shielding the view of the unconventional remodeling should anyone knock on the door.
The first major discovery was made March 14 - purely by chance. An electrical fire from an overloaded panel brought emergency crews to a spacious, peach-hued Chino Hills home.
Inside, firefighters found about 1,300 marijuana plants.
Susan Jabs, who lives next door, said she had no idea the two young Asian men who were fixing up the house were actually converting it into a massive indoor pot farm. The men would wave to her family. They even had a gardener.
When Jabs' family asked them about building a fence between their backyards, they didn't respond because they didn't speak English.
"We thought it was a language barrier," she said. "We were just grateful to have quiet neighbors."
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