PORT ST. LUCIE TRYING TO SEIZE ALLEGED POT GROW HOUSES

PORT ST. LUCIE -- Two weeks after busting the largest
marijuana-growing ring in city history, Port St. Lucie police are
looking to strike suspected drug dealers where it hurts most: their
real estate.

Police are quietly making a case to seize the first of 24
single-family houses where hundreds of marijuana plants have been
found growing in 5- gallon buckets or dangling midair amid high-tech
lights and irrigation pipes.

Police Chief John Skinner said it's the first time the city has tried
to confiscate drug suspects' homes but said the detailed organization
of the latest operation, coupled with the fact that little cash was
found, led officials to suggest property seizure as a way to make the
punishment fit the alleged crimes.

At least one homeowner already has been notified of the city's plans,
prompting his attorney to file court papers this week seeking a
preliminary hearing on the forfeiture proceeding at 169 S.W. South
Danville Circle. State law allows the seizure of homes used in a
felony only if the property owner was aware of the criminal enterprise
and allowed it to continue.

Even if police gain title to a home, outstanding liens and mortgages
must be paid before the city recoups its share of the selling price.
One officer is working full time to investigate property records for
each of the grow houses uncovered in the past two weeks to see which
are worthwhile to seize, officials said.

Sources say it appears two separate groups were running the illicit
greenhouses independently of one another. While some homes had small
operations confined to a single closet or room, other homes were
essentially indoor farms tended by a caretaker who slept on a nearby
cot.

The plants, if sold, would have reaped their growers a multimillion-
dollar profit, say police, who added they believe some of the homes
have operated as virtual marijuana factories for more than a year.

"If we can't find the money, we'll pursue whatever other resources
they have," Skinner said. "I think we have to hurt these individuals
and their assets."

Police were alerted to the first grow house May 8 after they received
a report of a man with a machete chasing another man down Southwest
Glenwood Drive. They didn't find the men, but they noticed a busted
sliding glass door and an aroma of marijuana that could be smelled
outdoors, investigators say.

Financial documents and mail inside the house led police to 10 more
homes across St. Lucie County where detectives say marijuana was being
grown or packed.

As the investigation widened and police received tips from neighbors,
they uncovered a dozen more homes with pot plants and made more arrests.

The latest came Monday, when 50-year-old Dayami Perrez de Estevez was
charged with marijuana possession and cultivation in connection with a
bust at his home at 442 S.W. Friar St. May 12.

Police arrested William Travieso, 34, on Monday in connection with a
growing operation at 971 Consolata Ave.

The suspects deny knowing one another, police said. A review of the
property appraiser's Web site shows about one-third of those arrested
are listed as homeowners.

City Attorney Roger Orr said a new assistant city attorney who will
join the staff in June will take over the forfeiture proceedings from
Assistant State Attorney Lev Evans. Evans declined to discuss the grow
houses Tuesday but said it's rare for police agencies to seize homes,
because they must prove the house was used as an "instrumentality" to
commit a felony.

Police also must prove property owners are culpable.

"It can't be seized from an innocent owner," Evans said.

Civil forfeiture proceedings are separate from a criminal case, and
one doesn't affect the other, he said.

A majority of city council members said they support forfeiture
attempts because of the extent to which homes were used to commit crimes.

"They can take your boat or your car, so why is a house any
different?" Councilman Christopher Cooper asked. "Some of those houses
were gutted. Their main purpose was to grow plants."

State law allows a police department to use a seized house for its own
needs, or to sell the house and use the proceeds to investigate other
drug crimes, launch crime-prevention programs such as DARE or pay
overtime costs of detectives who investigated the original crimes.

Port St. Lucie police confiscated $28,095 worth of assets last year
and $94,442 the year before, budget documents show. Real estate worth
$5 million would set a record in the city, observers say.

"We need to send a message to the drug dealers," Cooper said. "Don't
do business in Port St. Lucie."