After a year-long investigation, police found 60 to 70 marijuana plants growing in the basement of a Struthers home Tuesday. And a day later, another 140 pot plants and extensive operation were found at a home on Youngstown's south side Wednesday.
While there was no evidence of drug use or trafficking at either location, police said for four suspects being questioned, it was instead all about "the grow."
"This is no different than dealing with somebody that grows a prize-winning vegetable," said Lt. Robin Lees, of the Mahoning County Drug Task Force. "They're proud of their product a lot of times, and they compare notes with others, and they just try to improve upon that."
Police said the Struthers home, at 85 Smithfield St., was just a block from Mauthe Park and within 1,000 feet of a school. Police said drug activity there was confined to the basement and kept hidden from neighbors, with a high-end ventilation system installed to carry any odor up the chimney and out of the house.
"It was a sophisticated grow," said Struthers detective Jeff Pantall. "It's not like they sat down and got a couple pop bottles and put some dirt in it and got a marijuana plant going. They had some training."
At the 427 Ferndale Ave. home in Youngstown, the plants were being cultivated by a sophisticated Omega Gardens hydroponic system, set up to grow the plants around the clock, said police.
"I think we were all a little surprised to see this," said Lees. "We've all seen hydroponic grows and the more sophisticated marijuana operations but never something like this. This has a constant turnaround. This can be run 24/7."
Police said odor from those plants and drug activity could be smelled coming from the second floor of the home.
"It was certainly set up so that the yield would be more quickly achieved, and there would be certainly more profit involved," said Lees.
No arrests have been made or charges filed in either operation. Two men were found in the Youngstown home and a man and woman at the Struthers home. Police don't believe the two homes or illegal grow operations are related.
All the evidence will be bound over to a Mahoning County grand jury next week, said police.
