Marijuana has long been an illegal substance and criminals have needed to hide their activities, using various levels of ingenuity. Growing an illegal facility in the home is no doubt a tricky endeavor, as marijuana is notorious for its smell as well as requiring quite a large electricity bill, which might rouse the ire of fellow tenants. It also requires a number of tools, adequate space and an extensive lighting operation. Because of all the required ingredients for a successful marijuana grow, there are a number of ways to find illegal growing operations in your own neighborhood. While there is no need to actively snoop, a large indoor growing operation is no joke and needs to be investigated, and there are a number of telltale signs.
In any case, illegal growing operations are on the way out with an increase in legalization across the USA. When marijuana becomes legalized in a larger number of states there will simply be no need for black market. There is no reason for customers to go to a black-market dealer when they can get quality marijuana from a shop or medical dispensary. While marijuana is a beneficial plant, the worry with illegal growing operations at present is due to the chemicals used in the growing process. This results in weed that is full of toxins and makes its way to regular customers. Again, legalization will kill this market that was artificially created by prohibition as independent testing facilities can be setup which test various strains of marijuana for quality. In the meantime, here are 3 ways to spot an indoor marijuana grow in California.
How to Spot a marijuana Grow
The 3 main ways through which an indoor growing operation can be identified in California are
- A black wrought iron fence around home and exterior security doors.
- A set of security cameras at each entrance
- A second fence between the black fence and front door
“Every indoor marijuana grow we’ve identified has the same fence installed by the same company,” said a drug enforcement officer who requested to remain anonymous.Police stressed that security cameras and fences alone are not indicative of a marijuana grow. However, when combined with the odor of marijuana or other suspicious activity, they can be a cause for concern. Alongside these obvious considerations require some common sense. If you know the person might there be a reason why they have a fence and security cameras? Did you see them with lots of equipment? What is their age and socioeconomic status? Though stereotypes are often inaccurate, if it is an elderly couple it is far more likely that they are simply afraid of being burgled. The criteria for finding out a growing operation is the same in every state and requires a number of factors. If you are more than sure it is a large scale growing operation then it might be a good idea to call the police. There is a huge difference between a person or couple growing their own marijuana to enjoy in the comfort of their own home and the real crime of cartels running illegal growing operations, which can be actively harmful to society. At the same time there is no reason to go 100% Sherlock Holmes. You do not want to knock on the door of a Mexican drug cartel asking them if they happen to be behind an illegal growing operation.
It’s hardly unusual for police in the Sacramento region to find an illegal marijuana grow house in an otherwise quiet suburb. But in a number of recent police raids, the occupants of these grow houses have turned out to be Chinese nationals. This raises questions with regard to who is recruiting them and how they are being financed. Recent police raids in Yuba, Yolo, Placer and Sacramento counties have resulted in multiple arrests of people with Chinese passports, some of them speaking no English and apparently providing little help to investigators. One recently obtainedindictment asserts that money from a southern Chinese bank account was transferred to California to pay for down payments on homes that later became grow houses, suggesting that at least some in China are investing the illicit U.S. marijuana market.
Black Market Marijuana
California is rife with black market marijuana at present. Recreational marijuana is set to come into force in January 2018, where businesses will open their doors to the sale of marijuana. In the meantime there is a serious problem of black market growing operations. Many of these operations are operated by illegal immigrant cartels, most commonly said to be Mexican cartels. These growing facilities do not pay any heed to rules and regulations and the result is an environmental catastrophe which kills animals and often results in a toxic water supply and an actively dangerous toxic wasteland. And there is also the danger of the toxins in the weed itself, which many people are unware of as they purchase their marijuana. But these growing operations are grown outside, often in secluded forests as opposed to indoors. Marijuana is a cash crop and large indoor growing operations will almost always have some layer of security and protection, the most important considerations in investigating illegal indoor growing operations.