{"id":8462,"date":"2018-10-10T16:00:31","date_gmt":"2018-10-10T16:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=3232073"},"modified":"2018-10-10T16:00:31","modified_gmt":"2018-10-10T16:00:31","slug":"feds-raid-dozens-of-suspected-black-market-marijuana-grows-hidden-in-aurora-area-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/feds-raid-dozens-of-suspected-black-market-marijuana-grows-hidden-in-aurora-area-homes\/","title":{"rendered":"Feds raid dozens of suspected black-market marijuana grows hidden in Aurora-area homes"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/feds-raid-dozens-of-suspected-black-market-marijuana-grows-hidden-in-aurora-area-homes\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Federal and local agents fanned out across the Aurora area Wednesday morning, targeting a posh neighborhood as they executed more than two dozen warrants to search suspected illegal marijuana grow houses.<\/p>\n<p>At these homes, largely in the Tollgate Crossing subdivision near Aurora\u2019s Cherokee Trail High School, agents could be seen carrying hundreds of marijuana plants outside, lining them up in neat rows across driveways and front lawns<\/p>\n<p>Hundreds of local, state and federal officers, including agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, hit at least 24 homes during Wednesday\u2019s raids, which\u00a0Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler said were centered on a single criminal operation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are related to a black-market marijuana operation,\u201d DEA spokesman Randy Ladd said. Tollgate Crossing is \u201ca very affluent neighborhood. Houses there sell for $500,000 to $600,000.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ladd declined to say how many total warrants were served. Wednesday afternoon, DEA agents executed multiple additional warrants in the Conservatory neighborhood of Aurora, he confirmed.<\/p>\n<p>No arrests have been made related to the grow operations, officials said.<\/p>\n<p>Mary Johnson lives three doors down from one of the houses raided Wednesday morning. She said she had no idea homes were being used for illegal marijuana grows in Tollgate Crossing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a little concerning because who knows what kinds of people this is bringing into the neighborhood,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3232146\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter size-article_inline\" readability=\"51.5\"><img class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/feds-raid-dozens-of-suspected-black-market-marijuana-grows-hidden-in-aurora-area-homes.jpg\" width=\"4032\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\" readability=\"28\">\n<p>Joe Amon, The Denver Post<\/p>\n<p>A DEA agent carries marijuana plants out of a suspected illegal grow operation at a home in Aurora on Wednesday morning, Oct. 10, 2018. Federal and local agents fanned out across the Denver metro area Wednesday morning executing more than two dozen search warrants on suspected illegal marijuana grow houses, authorities say.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A quick drive through the snowy Tollgate Crossing subdivision Wednesday morning revealed\u00a0 DEA agents lining up hundreds of marijuana plants across the lawns of several homes. Agents seized 256 plants from one house on Haleyville Street, a DEA official said. Another house in the neighborhood had more than twice that amount, said the agent, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the numbers of plants seized.<\/p>\n<p>According to Ladd, \u201cpeople don\u2019t live in these homes. They bought them solely to run marijuana operations. It\u2019s a large operation, but the size of this operation is becoming more and more common.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But one neighbor on Haleyville Street, who would not disclose her name, said she knows a family with two younger children that lives in one of the raided homes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe kids stood out front this morning and watched this all happen,\u201d she said. \u201cThey might not know what was going on exactly, but they knew it wasn\u2019t good.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s sad,\u201d she continued. \u201cThat was a family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carlos Gonzalez walked out to his sidewalk to see all the commotion on his block. He said he\u2019s never seen anything like this in his neighborhood, but it\u2019s not terribly surprising given Colorado\u2019s reputation as a marijuana haven.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStill, I have two kids,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cThere are many kids in the neighborhood. Weird people can show up to the neighborhood if this stuff is going on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Others in Tollgate Crossing were not fazed by the rash of apparent grow houses found in the subdivision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis isn\u2019t too surprising,\u201d said Pete Holub. \u201cIt\u2019s just pot. This is nothing new.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hardy Jones, who just moved in across the street from one of the raided homes, said when he saw a U-Haul and several cars in front of his house Wednesday morning, he thought someone was moving out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said, \u2018Look at all these people helping this guy move, that\u2019s nice of them,&#8217;\u201d Jones said with a chuckle.<\/p>\n<p>He said while it was \u201chard to take in\u201d that his neighbors ran a large-scale grow house, he wasn\u2019t concerned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m ex-military,\u201d Jones said. \u201cIt\u2019s more interesting than worrying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ladd, the DEA spokesman, alleged that black-market pot operations have brought many other illegal activities to Colorado, increasing the numbers of murders, robberies and gun sales.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe find guns at almost all illegal grow operations,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of the black-market traffickers are poly-drug operations that sell cocaine, methamphetamine, opioids and heroin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brauchler, who is running for Colorado attorney general, said he\u2019s seen 11 first-degree murder cases in the 17th Judicial District related to black-market marijuana transactions since the state first legalized recreational marijuana nearly five years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have seen a huge surge in black-market marijuana busts,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd in the past you could expect black-market marijuana to be a lower potency, lower grade, lower quality\u2026 We\u2019re talking about significant grows. And this stuff is going to be diverted outside the state of Colorado to places that don\u2019t have a regulated marijuana market. And that\u2019s us being bad neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3232135\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter size-article_inline\" readability=\"51.5\"><img class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/feds-raid-dozens-of-suspected-black-market-marijuana-grows-hidden-in-aurora-area-homes-1.jpg\" alt=\"A DEA ages carried marijuana plants ...\" width=\"3613\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\" readability=\"28\">\n<p>Joe Amon, The Denver Post<\/p>\n<p>A DEA agent carries marijuana plants out of a suspected illegal grow operation at a home in Aurora on Wednesday morning, Oct. 10, 2018. Federal and local agents fanned out across the Denver metro area Wednesday morning executing more than two dozen search warrants on suspected illegal marijuana grow houses, authorities say.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Two weeks ago, U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer predicted that he would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2018\/09\/28\/colorado-marijuana-business-federal-law-charges\/\">target illegal grow operations disguised as legal marijuana grow houses<\/a> as part of a new strategy in the drug war.<\/p>\n<p>Troyer said his decision to focus on licensed marijuana dispensaries and grow houses in Denver metro neighborhoods is driven in part by poorly written and enforced Colorado laws that have caused the black-market drug trade in this state to boom and contribute to a spike in violent crime.<\/p>\n<p>Going back to when Colorado\u2019s recreational marijuana law was passed in 2012, the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in Denver along with state and federal drug task forces largely targeted illegal marijuana grows making no attempt to follow state laws. Most of them had operated in remote Western Slope counties. Colorado, local and federal agents and prosecutors reported great success, making dozens of arrests and seizing 7.3 tons of marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>Ladd said that just since 2014, law enforcement officers in Colorado have raided 300 black-market marijuana grow houses and seized 70,000 marijuana plants weighing 10,000 pounds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s going to go up today,\u201d said Ladd, referring to the number of marijuana plants seized.\u00a0\u201cWe have seen a significant increase in black-market marijuana activity. It\u2019s millions and millions of dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\"\/>\n<p>In a recent interview, Troyer said Cuban and Chinese drug cartels are getting involved in Colorado. In many cases, he said, heavily armed and violent Cuban gang members based in Miami are coming to Colorado and raiding illegal grows and in some cases killing pot growers.<\/p>\n<p>There has been a spike in the number of home invasions and assaults, Ladd said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the common things that go on are the Craigslist ads,\u201d he said. \u201cOther times people come to Colorado solely to steal the marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ladd said that the growth in Colorado\u2019s black-market marijuana production is also related to light sentencing laws.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe risk-reward is very hard to combat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Federal and local agents fanned out across the Aurora area Wednesday morning, targeting a posh neighborhood as they executed more than two dozen warrants to search suspected illegal marijuana grow houses. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7977,851,6812,233,6813,77,6814,9,5019,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[7978,3424,6817,2811,6818,2655,6819,5022],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8462"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8462\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}