Trapdoor led police to crop of marijuana in Everett

Published 10:57 pm Wednesday, May 13, 2009

EVERETT — Profits from his first crop reportedly financed more high-tech equipment for the marijuana growing operation stashed under his basement floor. Bugs are said to have devoured his second and third crops. The cops found his fourth.

An Everett man’s luck isn’t getting any better.

Prosecutors earlier this week charged the 50-year-old with manufacturing a controlled substance, a felony.

The Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force late last year seized more than 100 pot plants from under the man’s house, deputy prosecutor Matthew Baldock wrote in court documents.

Drug detectives say the man went to a lot of trouble to hide the indoor pot farm. Still, he didn’t keep his stash a secret from everyone. An informant ratted him out, police said.

The task force raided the man’s house in December. They pushed a clothes dryer aside and found a trapdoor. Under the door a short ladder led to an area below the basement floor.

A hole had been cut in the concrete floor of the basement and a large space had been dug out in the dirt under the foundation. The area, about half the size of the basement, was divided into three separate rooms.

One room contained growing equipment, including fans, air filters and lights, Baldock wrote. The second held more equipment, drying marijuana stems with buds and 40 mature plants. Police found 67 more plants in the third room.

Police have seen an influx in sophisticated indoor marijuana growing operations. The surge has been attributed in large part to the same organized crime rings that have operated indoor marijuana farms in British Columbia, Canada. Those groups generally rent houses, set up growing operations and pay people to live in the houses and tend the crops.

The operation the Everett man is accused of running is more unusual.

“We don’t usually see grows underground like this,” task force detective Jose Vargas said. “Someone spent a lot of time cutting a hole in the concrete and digging.”

The man, who doesn’t have a criminal history, told detectives he started growing pot because he couldn’t pay his bills. He said he was the only one involved in the operation.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com