Police make arrests, raid homes in probe of Houston pot ring

(7/17/07 - HOUSTON) -- Seven homes were raided and hundreds of high-grade marijuana plants were seized as Houston police culminated a five-month investigation into an "organized crime-style" ring that authorities said distributed pot all over the country.

Two people were arrested Tuesday and more were expected to be taken into custody by day's end, said Paul Doyle, with the Harris County District Attorney's Office special crimes division.

Doyle declined to say how many people were being targeted as part of the investigation.

"This is a very sophisticated criminal organization," he said. "We have information that this stuff is shipped all over the country because they grow so much of it."

Police raided seven homes in the area Monday night.

Each of the homes in southeast Houston had been remodeled to accommodate the pot growing operation. Rooms equipped with lights on timers were filled with marijuana plants capable of producing more than four pounds of pot apiece.

To keep from attracting attention to the houses with big electricity bills, the marijuana growers by-passed electric meters and tapped directly into power lines, Doyle said.

"One of the houses was a big supply warehouse," he said, making police believe that more undiscovered cultivation houses remain in operation.

The ring sold the marijuana for about $4,000 a pound.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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