Growers operated pot operation next to LAPD station for about eight months

For about the last eight months, several suspects operated a sophisticated marijuana operation in a warehouse just 25 feet from the Los Angeles Police Department's Topanga Station in Canoga Park, police said tonight.

Three men were taken into custody earlier today after officers served a search warrant on the warehouse in the 8400 block of Canoga Avenue.

Growers had built three rooms in the building -- one for seedlings, another for medium-sized plants and one where harvesting was apparently conducted, police said. The lights were controlled so they wouldn't overheat, watering systems were automated and oxygen levels were supplemented by carbon dioxide tanks, according to police.

"It was very sophisticated," said LAPD Officer Karen Raynor.

She said the growers used insulation material to seal cracks in the building. But about a week ago, officers in the station's parking lot noticed something out of the ordinary.

"They happened to catch a whiff of it," Raynor said.

A surveillance operation was launched, and officers obtained the warrant. The names of the three men, who appeared to be in their 30s, were not released because they had not been booked.

-- Robert J. Lopez

 Photo: Interior growing room of marijuana warehouse. Credit: KTLA

Comments

[Ted]

Dear God, what am I doing living in Canoga Park?

[Jake]

You know what? I'm glad the cops busted the place.
I'm all for the legalization of pot, but these guys must have been smoking way too much of their own product to try and pull this off.
It's just plain rude and disrespectful to do this kind of thing next door to the cops.
You know what? Cops know this is going on, just don't rub it in their faces.
Growing pot in a warehouse is half the reason Palmdale exists.
Unfortunately Crystal Meth is the other half.

[Joe Shea]

I bet there are hundreds of others like this warehouse around LA County, the proximity of police notwithstanding. With the dispensaries, the demand is fairly strong and consistent. It's probably not all coming from Humboldt plantations. In fact, there are probably "growing stations" as you call them all over the state. Someone should try to calculate the quantity available for sale in dispenaries, including inventory, and estimate the acreage devoted to it and the size of the economic investment involved. That information should be the basis for any discussion of taxation.

[Sarah]

Bg mistake. That stuff was probably for Lieutenant Anita Van Buren.

[Marijuana Delivery]

Bet they were totally legal under prop 215 and that's why they weren't booked on any charges.

In this state you have a CONSTITUTIONAL right to collectively cultivate marijuana for medical purposes. There is no restriction on the proximity to police stations or any other structures.