Upscale homes raided for pot growing operations

DEA Special Agent in Charge Javier Peña helps carry pot seized from a "grow house" in Spring. Dozens of homes, rented by Vietnamese traffickers, were raided. Twenty-two people reportedly were detained. DEA Special Agent in Charge Javier Peña helps carry pot seized from a "grow house" in Spring. Dozens of homes, rented by Vietnamese traffickers, were raided. Twenty-two people reportedly were detained. Photo: James Nielsen Photo: James Nielsen Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Upscale homes raided for pot growing operations 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

The largest raids ever in the Houston area of marijuana "grow houses" on Tuesday netted 41 properties where Vietnamese traffickers infiltrated affluent neighborhoods and secretly cultivated millions of dollars worth of high-potency pot, according to federal authorities.

The raids made two things clear: Traffickers are investing large sums of money in growing equipment and installing their operations in high-dollar homes in Houston-area neighborhoods not known for drug trafficking.

Teams of narcotics officers from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Harris County Sheriff's Office executed search warrants at rental homes in Harris County, including a cluster in the Spring area, as well as in Montgomery and Fort Bend counties.

The raids shocked many neighbors who were unaware of the illicit drug cultivation taking place in houses in quiet residential neighborhoods.

Agents familiar with the drug sweep said it is in response to an expanded presence of Vietnamese pot growers locally, part of a trend that has seen home-grown marijuana cultivation move from rural fields into so-called "grow houses'' in suburban neighborhoods.

A law enforcement source who did not want to be identified because of the active investigation said 22 suspects were detained.

Javier Pena, the agent in charge of the Houston DEA office, said one criminal organization is responsible for the trafficking operation.

"It's a major Vietnamese organization that specialized in indoor growing of marijuana sites," Pena said. "They used residential houses."

Foreclosures open door

Vietnamese-American crime organizations have specialized in the cultivation of high-potency marijuana in California suburbs. The wave of foreclosures related to the collapse of the housing market in California was encouraging the movement of marijuana growers into the suburbs, according to a New York Times article.

In recent months in the Houston area, agents have raided a number of homes where marijuana was being grown and arrested Vietnamese suspects who were running twhe operations, court records show.

One case in January involved the arrest of Tho Nguyen, 32, at a house in the Richmond area of Fort Bend County. Members of a county task force found 587 marijuana plants growing in pots under lights in five rooms that had been converted into a nursery. Police also seized $92,000 in cash found in the home.

Meanwhile, authorities this month discovered a pot farm in Polk County, where more than 30,300 mature marijuana plants were spread over hundreds of acres.

The operation busted locally Tuesday was much more sophisticated than the plants-grown-in-fields operations.

Traffickers ran electric cables from the homes directly to the underground utility lines to bypass the meter. The suspects were apparently trying to circumvent the meters to avoid monitoring of high electric usage that would raise suspicion.

Pena said the houses pose safety hazards because the suspects did their own electrical work.

"What concerns us is that these traffickers have bypassed the electric meters in the homes and created their own electric grids to power the lights and water system," Pena said. "They also have chemicals inside, and the potential is great that a house could catch on fire or even explode."

Pena said the percentage of THC - the active ingredient in marijuana - in the plants grown in these homes is 10 percent to 15 percent. About 10 years ago, the potency for a typical plant was 3 percent. The growers increased the potency by using selective breeding, chemical additives and fertilizers along with ideal growing conditions under heat lamps.

Hundreds of plants

A half-dozen law enforcement vehicles swarmed a two-story brick and stone home in a cul-de-sac in the Preserve at Augusta Pines in Spring on Tuesday morning. Agents entered the home and hauled out equipment and marijuana plants. A DEA agent standing outside the house said there were hundreds of marijuana plants growing inside.

Next-door neighbor Carrie Fulcher said 10 days ago the two men who had rented the home had a violent argument outside, but otherwise she and other neighbors said the two were friendly and waved to neighborhood children. They came to the home every morning, one of them driving a white Mercedes coupe and the other an SUV.

Fulcher said they never stayed at the house for more than an hour and always drove their cars into the garage and closed the garage door.

"I had my suspicions because when they moved in they frosted out all the windows even though they already had blinds," Fulcher said. "I thought that was weird."

The home had been leased for $3,500 a month last October and recently went on the market for $385,000. Owner Earl Torrance said he checked the property last week to make sure his tenants were keeping up with the yard work."They paid on time. I never had any trouble," Torrance said. "It's absolutely crazy, and I can't believe it. I never thought this could happen in this neighborhood."

Two blocks away, a separate crew of law enforcement agents seized a large number of light fixtures and other equipment from a home.

Larry Parks, 59, an oil company employee, said he was awakened by the sound of a helicopter. "I came outside and there were SWAT teams, EMTs and more police cars than I have ever seen in my life," he said.

james.pinkerton@chron.comdane.schiller@chron.com