LEE RAIDS 12 GROW HOUSES

$2.8 Million in Marijuana Seized, 10 Arrested

Ten people in Lee County have been arrested on charges of growing
$2.8 million worth of marijuana plants in 12 houses as part of a
statewide sweep.

Authorities swept through 45 counties Wednesday in a coordinated
effort called Operation D-Day. They confiscated about 9,200 marijuana
plants with a street value of almost $37 million. Law enforcement
agencies throughout the state reported their arrests Thursday.

Lee's arrests were the third highest in the state. The county was
fourth in houses closed and in plants seized with 738, the Lee County
Sheriff's Office said.

Lee's grow house activity ranked second in the state in 2007,
according to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement annual report.

Lee County's effort was a record performance for one day, Sheriff
Mike Scott said.

"The bad news is it's here. The good news is we are, too," Scott said
during a news conference Thursday.

All of the grow houses closed Wednesday were in Lehigh Acres, where
authorities have raided at least 46 since Oct. 1.

"They set up grow houses in our community, in Lehigh Acres
specifically, and we're not going to tolerate it," Scott said.

Scott, standing behind two large boxes of marijuana plants, insisted
his department is making a consistent, sustained and aggressive
effort to eradicate grow houses.

"Who can argue with the facts that we're not making progress," he said.

The purpose of the coordinated effort was to show how united law
enforcement is against grow houses, according to a news release
distributed at the press conference.

The release also said southern Florida, which includes Lee County,
has experienced a tremendous increase in the number of grow houses
and is approaching epidemic levels statewide.

Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott speaks at a press conference at the Lee
County Sheriff's Office on Thursday. Scott announced raids on 12 grow
houses in Lehigh. Ten people were arrested according to the Lee
County Sheriff's Office. Authorities estimate the street value of 740
marijuana plants seized at the houses at $2.9 million. The raids were
part of a statewide effort.

The raids happened one day before the Senate passed a bill to make it
easier to charge the owner of a home used as a grow house and to
charge a person with trafficking in marijuana. The bill drops the
number of plants needed as evidence of trafficking from 300 to 25.
House members passed the bill earlier, and it is on its way to the
Gov. Charlie Crist for his signature. It will become effective as
soon as he signs it.

"The drug they're producing now is almost hashish-like in its power,"
said Sen. Steve Oelrich, R-Cross Creek, the bill's Senate sponsor.
"This is not just somebody with three plants in the backyard in the
woods. This is organized crime, and we need to hit it."

House sponsor Rep. Nick Thompson, R-Fort Myers, also noted more such
houses are found regularly in Lehigh Acres, in his district.

Authorities also were busy elsewhere in Southwest Florida on Wednesday.

Sarasota County reported three grow houses raided, one arrest and 200
plants seized.

"We got two good busts," said Charlotte County Sheriff's spokesman
Bob Carpenter. Deputies hit two grow houses, seized 997 plants -
third highest in the state - and made two arrests. That makes 10 grow
house raids in Charlotte this year compared to three by this time in 2007.

Collier County deputies arrested nine people, shut nine houses and
seized 203 plants with a street value of $609,000. They also
recovered a loaded rifle from one of the residences. Collier deputies
have closed 23 grow houses and seized an estimated $3.9 million in
plants this year.