MARIJUANA RING BUSTED BY `OPERATION GREEN THUMB'

Ana Pabon had suspected something strange was going on in the
peach-colored house across the street in her quiet Southwest
Miami-Dade suburban neighborhood.

"`That house was always empty," Pabon, 32, said of the place at 5720
SW 156th Ct. "During the middle of the night you would see cars go
into the garage, but no one would come out. We never knew who lived
there."

On Friday morning, the mystery was solved. Pabon and the rest of her
neighbors woke to see FBI and other law enforcement agents raiding
the house. Behind its dark tinted windows and closed blinds, healthy
and potent marijuana plants were growing, authorities said.

Police said the house was rented by the Manuel Horta Organization, a
ring that ran marijuana labs and sent crops to New York and to other
parts of the country.

"You never know who your neighbors are," said Robert Lopez, 41, who
lives a few houses away from where police said the pot was being grown.

Under a sting dubbed Operation Green Thumb, federal, state, and local
agencies worked together to crack down on the elaborate marijuana
business. The bust came after four months of surveillance, help from
an FBI confidential source and suspicious neighbors, law enforcement
officials said.

Authorities raided 11 homes in Miami-Dade County and two in Miramar,
arresting seven people and confiscating 500 marijuana plants with a
street value of $1 million, weapons and $60,000 in cash.

They charged Manuel Antonio Horta, 55, the suspected leader, with
operating a continuing criminal enterprise. If convicted, he could
face up to life in prison with a mandatory term of 20 years and a
possible $2 million fine.

Also arrested were Reynold Barker, 60; Rene L. Lastra, 34; Hernando
Hernandez, 46; and Marco A. Alfonzo, 24; Robert Lewandowski, 32; and
Bonnie Tolentino, 45.

Charges included conspiracy and possession of marijuana with intent to
distribute. Lastra was also charged with bribery of a public official
and Hernandez with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

All seven were being held at the Federal Detention Center of Miami, 33
NE Fourth St., late Saturday.

Harvesting marijuana in hydroponic labs, where plants grow in water
instead of soil, is popular in South Florida. Authorities said the
Horta group mostly used rented homes to set up controlled labs that
use bright lights instead of sun. Chemicals used to harvest the plants
increase the concentration of THC, the substance in marijuana that
gives users their highs. Officials said one lab can produce three
harvests a year.

Like the peach house on Southwest 156th Court, the labs tended to
leave their neighbors scratching their heads.

The house at 14000 SW 16th St., which was also raided Friday, drew the
attention of neighbors when a newly installed air conditioning unit
kept running 24-hours a day, even though no one was ever home.

"Someone would come by every two months and cut the grass," said Manny
Rodriguez, 64, who lives near the home. "There was no movement. No
family living there. Only the porch light would remain on."
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e-mail: ivperez@herald.com