HIGH-TECH MARIJUANA OPERATION SHUT DOWN

Two men are arrested as 1500 pot plants are seized, 600 of them from a
Santa Ana industrial park.

Santa Ana - Orange police on Thursday confiscated 1,500 marijuana plants,
including 600 growing in a high-tech cultivation operation in an industrial
park.

A dozen 25-foot trailers containing marijuana plants were found inside a
huge warehouse at The Electric Farm, at 1537 E. McFadden Ave., an
industrial park renting space to about 50 small businesses. Police said the
growers were cultivating a high grade of marijuana in nutrient rich
solutions instead of soil. The trailers were equipped with exhaust fans,
heating lamps and complex irrigation systems.

The drug, of better quality than other marijuana because of the laboratory
conditions, is valued at $5,000 per pound, instead of the typical $500 to
$1,000 per pound for marijuana grown in Mexican soil, said Orange police
Lt. Art Romo.

Two suspects, Gregory William Stefanik, 26, of Newport Beach and Andrew
Aguilera, 28, of Chino Hills were found at the site and taken into custody
Thursday morning, but police are searching for two or three more suspects.

The electricity to run the laboratory was pilfered from Southern California
Edison, resulting in a $150,000 loss for the utility company, officials
said.

Police had a year-old arrest warrant for Aguilera in connection with
cultivation of marijuana and had been looking for him, Romo said.

The suspects have been renting the industrial space on McFadden Avenue for
about two years, said Sgt. Dave Jensen of the Orange Police Department.

Romo said he had never encountered such an intricate system of marijuana
growth in his 26 years in law enforcement.

"I was very impressed by the sophistication the people had to build this
up," he said.

Officials said the McFadden Avenue operation, under surveillance for
several months, is believed to be connected to four other cultivation sites
in Orange County, including two in Santa Ana. They wouldn't disclose the
locations of the others.

Checked-by: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)