HELLO, IS THIS A GROW HOUSE?

Detectives Knock On Doors In Drug Search

DUETTE - A few tips came in to detectives Wednesday about possible
marijuana grow houses in northeast Manatee County.

The next day, sheriff's detectives showed up at the front doors
without warrants or evidence to ask to take a look around.

Surprisingly, the residents of two homes on the same block gave
detectives the OK to search their properties, where the detectives
happened upon "elaborate" indoor grow operations, each boasting
several marijuana plants.

The procedure is called a "knock and talk," and any law enforcement
officer can do it, said sheriff's Sgt. Dennis Romano.

Tips can come from another agency or a skeptical neighbor. As long as
the investigator is at the front door, determines the person answering
is a tenant or owner of the residence and receives permission to
search the property, it is legal, Romano said.

"If we knock on the door and they say 'no,' we have to turn around and
leave," he said. "... When you're not in law enforcement, sometimes
you don't realize you can say 'no.'"

Resident permission to search a home is enough, according to Florida
statute, Romano said. During a knock and talk, authorities do not even
have to specify what they are looking for.

"We don't offer any more information than we need to, at least until
we get to the fruit of the matter," said Romano, supervisor of the
Special Investigations Strategic Unit, which conducted the two
marijuana busts Thursday morning at two homes in the 30700 block of
Taylor Grade Road.

Detectives got tips about the grow houses from the Hillsborough County
Sheriff's Office.

They knocked, they talked and they found 24 full-grown marijuana
plants and 60 seedlings, high-intensity lighting, a watering system
and other growing equipment in the 30720 Taylor Grade Road home
occupied by Jorge Luis Aguila-Seara, 37. The street value of the
plants was determined to be about $126,000.

Authorities give every plant, including seedlings, a value of $1,500,
Romano said.

About 45 minutes later, detectives moved down the street to 30710
Taylor Grade Road, where they spoke with homeowner Barbaro Lopez
Hernandez, 32, and tenant Rafael Guzman Noda, 40. After being given
consent, detectives found 94 marijuana plants, with a street value of
about $141,000, and growing equipment in an outbuilding.

All three men signed search waivers before the detectives scoured the
properties.

They were charged with trafficking in marijuana by cultivation. A bill
signed into law in June to toughen penalties for marijuana grow houses
in Florida makes it a second-degree felony carrying up to 15 years in
prison if someone is convicted of growing 25 or more plants. The
sentence previously applied to growers with 300 or more plants.

Another knock and talk at a possible grow house in Bradenton last week
was not as successful, Romano said.

"The people there didn't let us in, and they up and moved on us in the
middle of the night, completely disappeared," he said.

This more informal investigative procedure is common in drug
investigations, as well as for warrants and many other crimes, Romano
said.

"We don't always do everything undercover because it either doesn't
pay off or takes too long," he said.