12:55 PM: San Francisco police seized more than 200 marijuana plants and arrested two people after finding indoor growing operations in Laurel Heights and the Richmond District late Monday and early this morning.
Calls from Laurel Heights residents about a possible grow house in the neighborhood led police to raid apartments in the 3300 block of California Street Monday evening, police spokesman Sgt. Troy Dangerfield said.
Police found about 100 plants and 100 pounds of dried marijuana at those locations.
Evidence there led police to a home in the 500 block of 43rd Avenue this morning, where officers uncovered another illegal marijuana-growing operation, Dangerfield said.
A total of 222 marijuana plants and 175 pounds of dried marijuana were recovered in the raids, according to Dangerfield. Both locations had illegal wiring bypassing the electrical meters.
The raids were the result of a weeks-long investigation, police said.
In the first raid at about 5 p.m. Monday, officers served a search warrant at an apartment at 3306 California St., according to police spokesman Officer Samson Chan.
While searching that address, police also discovered marijuana inside 3302 California Street, located in the same two-story, eight-unit building at the corner of Walnut Street, police Sgt. Chris Breen said.
Officers arrested two men during the search. One was taken out of the apartment building, and was handcuffed and placed into a police car at about 10 p.m.
A strong odor of marijuana lingered in the air as officers removed the plants and equipment, including lights and fans, and placed the items into two pickup trucks parked outside.
Neighbors walking their dogs and coming home with bags of groceries stopped to watch.
Two neighbors who live in the building next door said they were surprised to learn marijuana was growing on their block.
Chan said the street value of the marijuana seized at the Laurel Heights location was about $350,000.
“It was a criminal enterprise,” he said, adding that it appears the suspects had tried to dispose of some of the marijuana when police arrived.
12:35 AM: Police seized about 100 pounds of dried marijuana and another 100 marijuana plants at two apartments in San Francisco’s Laurel Heights neighborhood Monday night, and arrested two men allegedly involved with the operation.
The arrests and marijuana seizure were the result of a weeks-long investigation that culminated when officers served a search warrant at an apartment at 3306 California St. around 5 p.m., San Francisco police Officer Samson Chan said.
The investigation was expected to continue throughout the night, according to Chan, though he declined to state whether additional search warrants would be served.
During the search of 3306 California St., police also discovered marijuana in 3302, located in the same two-story, eight-unit building at the corner of Walnut Street, San Francisco police Sgt. Chris Breen said.
Officers arrested two men during the search. One of the men was taken out of the apartment building, handcuffed, around 10 p.m. and placed into a police car.
The strong odor of marijuana lingered in the air as officers removed the plants and equipment, including lights and fans, and placed the items into two pickup trucks parked outside after the man was taken into custody.
Neighbors walking their dogs or coming home with bags of groceries stopped to watch but none stayed long. Two neighbors, who said they live in the building next door, said they were surprised to learn marijuana was growing on their block.
The building’s garage remained open throughout the removal, displaying large ducting along the ceiling.
Chan said the street value of the marijuana seized was about $350,000.
“It was a criminal enterprise,” he said, adding that it appeared the suspects had tried to dispose of some of the marijuana when police initially arrived.
The investigation is ongoing.
