CHESTNUT MOUNTAIN - Authorities uncovered a professional marijuana growing operation in the basement of a new three bedroom house Wednesday in South Hall - the second in the same area this week.
Agents located 173 Marijuana plants at the house located on Chastain Way off Tanners Mill Road in the Georgian Subdivision.
"This is a state of the art hydroponic marijuana grow that we're starting to see throughout the country," Gang Task Force member Joe Amerling said. "They started out in California buying houses in high dollar subdivisions, never actually moving in, but converting basements into absolute marijuana grows and that's what we're seeing here."
Agents received a search warrant and located a growing operation almost identical to the first. The system had its own irrigation system, a separate heating and air unit to ventilate the basement, growing lights, fans and heaters.
"It's a brand new neighborhood, nobody was aware of what was going on, they put up a privacy fence to cover up their activities, they bought this house to grow marijuana in," Amerling said.
Gainesville-Hall County drug agents and Gang Task Force members estimated the plants at full maturity would have been worth $5,000 each with a total street value of $500,000 - the largest operation in Hall County to date.
A raid Monday on a house on Benefield Road - also in the Chestnut Mountain area - uncovered a basement marijuana "farm" with 115 plants worth an estimated $230,000.
"Utilizing information from that particular investigation we followed up through deeds and realized that the same person who purchased that house purchased this house in this subdivision," Amerling said.
Wednesday
October 16th, 2024
9:39PM
