Sure would be nice if they could list at least ONE other criminal enterprise these suspects were involved in...
...and of course no mention of what tipped them off.
http://gothamist.com/2011/04/13/dea_finds_100_pounds_of_fresh_pot_i.php
The DEA this week busted a $10 million-a-year indoor marijuana farm on Staten Island located in a nondescript auto garage thought to be abandoned by neighbors. Inside the garage, which seems to have been an active farm for three years, officials found 100 pounds of marijuana (or 450 mature pot plants) worth about $2.5 million. Two suspects have been arrested for farming the grow garage—Keith Levine, 33, and Michael Arroyo, 37, of Brooklyn and Staten Island, respectively.
The farm, which authorities say could produce four crops a year, sits at the end of a road between a private horse stable and the borough's Animal Care and Control center. When asked if she'd ever seen anything around the building the stable's owner, Kate Agugliaro, told the Advance that she "thought it was abandoned."
Another person told the paper "I’ve never seen one person anywhere near that thing."
This is the second major indoor pot bust in Staten Island, and the third in the metropolitan area, in the past month. In early March two brothers were busted for another, smaller, grow house on the island, worth about one million dollars a year. And two weeks ago police uncovered a series of seven grow houses with nearly 8,000 plants.
The DEA has apparently made uncovering more of these farms—which allow drug dealers to save cash and avoid importing their dope—a priority. Explains DEA Special Agent in Charge John Gilbride: "Marijuana is the most abused drug, and it is a drug that has the potential of generation an enormous amount of profit for criminal organizations. It’s millions and millions of dollars that are being used... to foster any other type of criminal enterprise."
...and of course no mention of what tipped them off.
http://gothamist.com/2011/04/13/dea_finds_100_pounds_of_fresh_pot_i.php
The DEA this week busted a $10 million-a-year indoor marijuana farm on Staten Island located in a nondescript auto garage thought to be abandoned by neighbors. Inside the garage, which seems to have been an active farm for three years, officials found 100 pounds of marijuana (or 450 mature pot plants) worth about $2.5 million. Two suspects have been arrested for farming the grow garage—Keith Levine, 33, and Michael Arroyo, 37, of Brooklyn and Staten Island, respectively.
The farm, which authorities say could produce four crops a year, sits at the end of a road between a private horse stable and the borough's Animal Care and Control center. When asked if she'd ever seen anything around the building the stable's owner, Kate Agugliaro, told the Advance that she "thought it was abandoned."
Another person told the paper "I’ve never seen one person anywhere near that thing."
This is the second major indoor pot bust in Staten Island, and the third in the metropolitan area, in the past month. In early March two brothers were busted for another, smaller, grow house on the island, worth about one million dollars a year. And two weeks ago police uncovered a series of seven grow houses with nearly 8,000 plants.
The DEA has apparently made uncovering more of these farms—which allow drug dealers to save cash and avoid importing their dope—a priority. Explains DEA Special Agent in Charge John Gilbride: "Marijuana is the most abused drug, and it is a drug that has the potential of generation an enormous amount of profit for criminal organizations. It’s millions and millions of dollars that are being used... to foster any other type of criminal enterprise."