CONCORD, N.H. --A multi-agency investigation of marijuana growing operations resulted in six arrests Wednesday and the seizure of 10 homes, at least 6,000 marijuana plants worth about $28 million and growing materials.
For the past two months, the New Hampshire State Police Narcotics and Investigations Unit, assisted by the United States Drug Enforcement Agency, the New Hampshire Attorney General's Drug Task Force, the U.S. Attorney's office in New Hampshire and numerous local police agencies have been investigating residential marijuana growing operations throughout the state.
As a result of recent marijuana seizures in Hooksett and Epsom, investigators developed information that led to the identification of 10 other residences in Concord, Derry, Pembroke, Andover, Chester, Weare, Hopkinton, Londonderry, and Canterbury that were suspected of housing large-scale marijuana grow operations.
The house-based operations also involve the theft of large amounts electricity "by bypassing the electric meter at the residences, utilizing both underground and above-ground methods," police said in a news release. In Hooksett, the underground electrical bypass caused the residence to catch fire and the rerouting of power caused pole transformers to explode, police said.
"We noticed the electric company was here quite a bit," Kim Hardy said of her neighbor's house in Weare, where over $1 million of marijuana was seized. "Actually, our transformer had blown a couple of months ago, and there's not a lot of activity (in the house)."
The suspects were arraigned in U.S. District Court.
"This group's outrageous behavior was not only criminal, but calculating, sneaky and without regard to anyone's safety," said June Stansbury of the Drug Enforcement Agency.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new...investigation/
14-12-2006, 05:48
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