DELTONA -- Fearing the heat from law enforcement in South Florida was getting too intense, a close-knit group of marijuana traffickers searched for a location where they figured their operation would be more likely to escape detection, Volusia Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said.
They chose Volusia County. Big mistake.
Earlier today, the group discovered that the move was a huge miscalculation, as narcotics agents toppled an extensive operation in a series of synchronized raids that dismantled about a dozen marijuana grow houses, primarily located in the Deltona area.
The organization targeted by Thursday’s raids is accused of growing large amounts of high-quality marijuana inside a coordinated network of houses and then selling the drugs throughout Florida and New York. Spearheaded by the multi-agency Volusia Bureau of Investigation (VBI), today’s raids were the culmination of an approximately 18-month investigation -- dubbed Operation Green Houses.
“This is another victory for the public and law enforcement in our ongoing efforts to keep drugs off of our streets and out of our neighborhoods,” Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson said. “The success was the result of excellent teamwork and cooperation among all of the VBI partners on the local, state and federal level.”
As a vivid illustration of the violence and spin-off crimes that often go hand-in-hand with drug trafficking, one of the locations raided -- 2420 Pine Tree Acres Lane in Deltona -- was the site of a home invasion, shooting and abduction in January. Investigators believe the victims were targeted because of their connection to the drug trafficking network.
“Today, we put an entire drug organization out of business, and the community is safer because of it,” Johnson said.
The investigation was launched in August 2007, after narcotics agents in South Florida tipped off agents here that the drug trafficking group had moved its base of operation to Volusia County. The operation, which also was being investigated by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, includes a network of sophisticated grow houses that produced and distributed large amounts of high-grade marijuana. Agents learned from confidential sources that the group relocated its operations to Volusia County because they were afraid of getting caught in Palm Beach.
After receiving the tip, VBI agents put the group under surveillance. VBI is a multi-agency task force that pools resources from nine local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in order to target mid- and upper-level narcotics traffickers as well as racketeering and organized crime. Participating agencies include the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Attorney’s General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, Daytona Beach Police Department, Daytona Beach Shores Department of Public Safety, DeLand Police Department, Port Orange Police Department, New Smyrna Beach Police Department and the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. VBI also is part of the Central Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA, which is a multi-agency task force established by the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy to combat drug trafficking along the seven-county area hugging Central Florida’s I-4 corridor.
The VBI investigation revealed evidence that the group operated at least 10 marijuana grow houses in Volusia County.
Armed with a series of arrest and search warrants, VBI started moving in at about 9:30 a.m. Thursday morning. By mid-afternoon, VBI agents had made eight arrests and seized 800 marijuana plants along with about 60 pounds of cultivated marijuana and several firearms. Among those arrested was the main target of the operation, the reputed kingpin, who will be held on $1 million bond on charges of conspiracy to traffic in marijuana and operating a continuing criminal enterprise. Others in the group face charges of conspiracy to traffic in marijuana. Thursday’s raids uncovered a total of 13 grow houses, including 12 in Volusia County and one in Seminole County.
The locations in Volusia County are as follows:
Deltona
* 1261 Braddock Drive
* 3040 Butler Ridge Road
* 725 Dan River Ave.
* 460 Hidden Ridge Road
* 3595 Lake Diana Drive
* 2780 Lake Helen-Osteen Road
* 641 E. Lehigh Drive
* 1870 Snook Drive
DeLand
* 1195 S. Blue Lake Ave.
* 1650 Van Cleff Road
DeBary
* 71 Sanford Ave.
Orange City
* 430 Miller Road
All of the cases developed as a result of Operation Green Houses will be prosecuted by Attorney General Bill McCollum's Office of Statewide Prosecution.