Cops: $186,000 of Pot Found Inside Grow House

A 32-year-old Miami Gardens man faces a host of charges after the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said a Crime Stoppers tip led its deputies to investigate a suspected marijuana grow house in Tampa.

An investigation into a possible drug house at 2604 66th St. S. was launched Jan. 8 after detectives from the sheriff’s office received a tip about suspected drug activity, the sheriff’s office wrote in an email to media. As it turned out, enough evidence was secured to obtain a search warrant.

That warrant was executed Thursday.

Once inside the home, detectives discovered multiple rooms inside were used to grow marijuana, the email stated. Deputies ultimately seized 44 marijuana plants and the equipment used to grow them. They also seized 218 grams of processed marijuana, 1 gram of cocaine and $3,715 in cash.

See Also:

• Grow House Busted After Crime Stoppers Tip

TECO was called out to the scene to determine if electricity was being stolen to grow the marijuana. An illegal connection was discovered, the sheriff’s office said, with stolen electricity estimated at $7,800.

All told, 93 pounds of marijuana with a street value of about $186,000 was seized.

Alberto Mauri-Rodriguez was charged with trafficking in cannabis, manufacture of cannabis, possession of cocaine, owning, leasing or renting for the purpose of trafficking, grand theft and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Mauri-Rodriguez was being held without bond in the Hillsborough County Jail Friday.

Photo credit: Alberto Mauri-Rodriquez and search warrant photos courtesy of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

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