SUSPICION GROWS HERE TOO

In the wake of highly publicized raids in which drug agents bust down
the doors of vacant homes where marijuana grows, it's probably only
natural that empty homes sometimes draw the attention of their neighbors.

Tracy police have received a number of calls in recent months from
people who are suspicious that their neighbors are running indoor pot farms.

Calls spiked last year following several marijuana-growing busts that
involved dozens of Central Valley homes tied to a Bay Area drug ring,
said police Sgt. Mark Duxbury.

"We take these calls very seriously," he said. "It's a
quality-of-life issue for these people."

In October of last year, Tracy police raided four homes in the
Edgewood subdivision for cultivating cannabis, but police are still
trying to link the growers, four of whom remain in custody. The Drug
Enforcement Agency shut down an operation in Edgewood last month, and
on Friday an anonymous caller pointed police toward yet another
Edgewood residence as a potential pot producer.

The caller said the Riverview Avenue property has been vacant for
more than a year and that the "For Sale" sign out front lists no real
estate company, name or phone number to call.

The caller also reported that large, green plastic bags recently
appeared in the backyard, although neighbors have seen no gardeners.

Police detectives visited the house to look around, but found
nothing. The police did not have a search warrant, but have other
ways of determining whether homes are being used to grow pot, Duxbury
said, adding that police would keep an eye on the house.

The report appeared in the weekend police blotter but did not say
what aroused the caller's suspicions.

Neighbors pointed to the fact that although no one has been to the
home in over a year, a light stays on in the garage all night. All
the house's other windows are also shuttered, but remain dark. One
neighbor said that in the last few weeks, the back gate was knocked
off its hinges and blue garbage bins appeared in the driveway. What's
more, a football-sized pile of salt rocks, possibly Epsom salt, was
also found on the property's front lawn. Some cannabis growers use
Epsom salt to provide ill-nourished plants a magnesium boost.

A child who lives nearby said he has seen cars pull up to the house,
"maybe unloading." However, these stoppers may also be neighbors,
some of whom park in the driveway when they get their mail from the
street's collective box.

The last person neighbors saw in the building was a young woman, and
that was more than a year ago. At the time, the woman told neighbors
that her aunt had bought the property, but no one ever moved in.

Later, a handwritten "For Rent" sign appeared out front. During the
course of the year, the sign was replaced with a handwritten "Rent to
Own" sign, and finally a real estate company's "For Sale" sign went
up, according to man who lives nearby but declined to give his name.

When a gust of wind blew the company sign off its hooks, the man
re-hung it. But soon after, the sign disappeared altogether, leaving
only a white post and the words "For Sale."

Police said they had not contacted the owner.

But at least one neighbor has seen nothing to lead her to think it's
a place where pot is grown.

"I don't see any activity there at all," said Remy Cantos, who lives
next door. "I haven't seen anybody and haven't noticed anything strange."