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Marijuana grow house busted in Lakeland

Polk County Sheriff's Office

Polk County sheriff's deputies busted a suspected marijuana grow house after a utility worker went to 5861 Driftwood Ave. in North Lakeland to cut off the power and noticed a generator running.

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TBO.com

Published: May 11, 2009

Updated: 05/11/2009 10:15 pm

LAKELAND - The generator gave it away.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office today busted a suspected marijuana-growing operation after being tipped off by a Lakeland Electric employee who had noticed a generator running at a house whose power had been disconnected.

The employee had gone to 5861 Driftwood Ave. in North Lakeland on Friday to cut off the electricity because the bill hadn't been paid. When he shut off the electricity, he saw a generator running to a backyard shed. The employee saw the same thing when he came back on Monday.

When he tried to talk to a man at the house about the generator, the man ran into the house and refused to come out.

The employee called the Polk County Sheriff's Office, who also could not get anyone in the house to respond. The agency got a search warrant.

After unsuccessfully trying to get anyone in the home to respond, the agency's SWAT team fired tear gas into the house at about 4:30 p.m., then rushed the house wearing gas masks.

Investigators didn't find anyone in the house but did find three rooms converted to a "sophisticated marijuana grow operation,'' according to the sheriff's office. The house had at least several dozen marijuana plants, and the shed behind the house appeared in the midst of being turned into a marijuana-growing operation, the sheriff's office reported.

No arrests have yet been made.

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