MARIJUANA OPERATION IMPRESSES OFFICIALS

The recent discovery of the region's most sophisticated underground
marijuana-growing operation yet -- accessible by hidden elevator and
a 65-foot-long concrete-encased tunnel -- makes San Diego County
growers trendsetters, officials said yesterday.

Some growers are years ahead of counterparts in Los Angeles and other
cities, where potent indoor varieties are grown in urban apartments
and suburban homes.

"San Diego County's on the cutting edge here because that's what they
used to do," said federal prosecutor Sherri Walker Hobson, who
specializes in drug cases. "Seems like growers (here) are coming up
with innovative ways to defeat law enforcement, and this is one of the ways."

[redacted] allegedly is one such pioneer. He was arrested last week
after a tip led authorities to his remote [redacted] log cabin,
where agents seized 454 marijuana plants from underground rooms so
complex in construction and detail that agents were impressed.

Marijuana cultivators have had to be resourceful to stay ahead of law
enforcement, officials said. Some county growers have graduated from
small-scale, in-home operations to large, rural locations to avoid
hazards of nosy neighbors, landlords and strong odors.

Outside cities and suburbs, growers found they could go underground
and rely on generators to avoid detection from skyrocketing utility
bills. But generators are noisy, so some growers steal electricity
through sophisticated systems that bypass electric meters. That
allowed the lamps, pumps, fans and other equipment used to grow
marijuana to run around the clock without causing high energy bills
or the loud noise of a generator.

Hobson, the prosecutor, said tactics are always changing. "I'm sure
they'll come up with other things, but they will be caught." he said.

And now there's the [redacted] compound:

Authorities said the [redacted] man purchased 39 acres in
[redacted], and built a two-story luxury log cabin and detached
garage without permits. According to court records, he built an
elevator, concealed in a walk-in closet in the garage, which descends
about 10 feet below ground and connects to a tunnel that is 65 feet
long and 4 feet wide.

The tunnel leads to two rooms measuring 20-by-20 feet, with 8-and
12-foot ceilings. Both rooms were outfitted with irrigation,
lighting, electrical and ventilation systems and steel I-beams to
reinforce the roof.

What distinguished the operation was the elaborate construction and
the ways to hide the operation, DEA spokesman Dan Simmons said.

The cabin was equipped with a sophisticated surveillance system,
including mounted infrared cameras with night-vision capabilities.
One camera was attached to the top of a pole at the gated entrance of
the property. Court records detail that the closed-circuit monitors
were inside the log cabin and the underground rooms.

"It was the access that was startling, not necessarily the grow
itself," Simmons said. "I've seen meth houses and crack houses, and
while closed circuit television was not unusual, this is the first
time I've seen it with marijuana."

After receiving tips from confidential sources, agents from the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration's Narcotics Task Force and the
Internal Revenue Service served search warrants at the property March
28 and seized the plants, according to court records.

Agents arrested [redacted] and two alleged accomplices, [redacted].
All have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana
plants and manufacturing marijuana plants. Smith is scheduled to
appear at a bail hearing today, the others on April 19.

Authorities said marijuana grown indoors can sell for $4,000 to
$5,000 a pound, versus $300 a pound for the outdoor variety.
Depending on a grower's harvesting methods, 454 plants could produce
tens of thousands of dollars in profits every few weeks.

Yesterday, the drug bust was the talk of [redacted] , an isolated
community at [redacted] with rough terrain and road signs warning of
cow crossings.

Residents said they were gossiping and speculating about whether they
had run into [redacted] or knew the location of his log cabin, which
they believed to be in a remote area. [redacted], was not alarmed or
surprised to hear about a marijuana operation nearby. But the
elevator and the tunnel?

"I am just surprised that somebody can pull off that scale of
operation for being this far out in the middle of nowhere," Hoffman said.

Another resident, [redacted], put it this way: "It's just part of the
world we live in these days."