Indoor Pot Farm Raided

In the second such discovery in Los Angeles this year, sheriff’s deputies Wednesday raided a house converted to indoor marijuana growing, arresting three people including a couple arrested in 1993 on charges of running what was then the biggest such indoor pot plantation in state history.

Sheriff’s Department narcotics detectives netted more than 2,000 plants believed to be worth about $20 million on the street, authorities said.

In July, sheriff’s detectives seized 4,116 marijuana plants worth an estimated $20 million growing in the Bel-Air mansion of medical marijuana-activist Todd McCormick. Detectives said the Chatsworth house appeared to have no connections to McCormick, the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club or any other medical marijuana group.

Each room in the 4,000-square-foot, six-bedroom house in the 23300 block of Needles Street was packed with marijuana plants, from inch-high seedlings to stalks 5 feet tall.

Water hoses and pipes pumped water through hallways and up and down stairs. Growing lights heated the rooms, some as hot as 100 degrees, and fans blew cool air among the marijuana leaves.

The lights and irrigation system operated on timers and about a dozen transformers boosted the house’s electrical power supply. In the bathrooms stood 55-gallon barrels of chemical fertilizer.

There was no sign that anyone lived in the house, which contained no furniture or personal items.

Arrested were Victor and Linda Dejoria, both 54, at their residence, a mobile home on Woolsey Canyon Road in Canoga Park.

The Dejorias, deputies said, were arrested in 1993 on charges of growing 1,000 marijuana plants worth an estimated $1 million at their home in Malibu, which at that time was the largest such seizure in state history.

Victor Dejoria was convicted and sentenced to a jail term, deputies said.

Authorities also arrested Wayne Iannola, 35, as he drove away from the Chatsworth house in his pickup truck about 4:10 p.m., shortly before the raid was scheduled to begin, deputies said.

All three, who were taken to the Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Station, will face charges of cultivating marijuana and possessing marijuana for sale, said Capt. Al Scaduto of the sheriff’s Narcotics Bureau. Bail is expected to be set at $500,000 each, authorities said.

“They were very good at what they were doing,” Scaduto said. “By the size of the plants, they were doing it for awhile.”

The house contained mature plants capable of producing 2 pounds of marijuana a year that could be sold for about $5,000 a pound, he said.

Detectives said the customers who buy from alleged drug sellers such as the Dejorias are professionals who know the difference between the “high-grade” marijuana and the cheaper variety found more readily on the streets.

“It’s too expensive for kids to buy, way too expensive,” said one investigator, who asked not to be identified. “It’s doctors, lawyers, schoolteachers--people with money.”

The Chatsworth residence was one of four houses raided, including one in Northridge, one in Agua Dulce and the Dejoria’s Woolsey Canyon home.

Detectives found more than $80,000 in cash and several pounds of drying marijuana at a house in the 17200 block of Devonshire Street in Northridge, about 100 plants in a house in the 11800 block of Sierra Highway in Agua Dulce and more drying marijuana at the Dejoria’s mobile home, Scaduto said.

Detectives were searching for a fourth member of the alleged drug ring, who they said had lived at the Agua Dulce residence.

The Dejorias owned the Chatsworth house, which they originally bought in partnership with Iannola before buying out his interest in January of this year, county property records showed.

Authorities believe the Dejorias are affiliated with other drug rings and are investigating the possibility there are more sites linked to this group, Scaduto said.

There was no indication of any link to McCormick, he said.

McCormick, 27, was arrested along with four others and charged in U.S. District Court with conspiring to sell marijuana. McCormick was later bailed out by actor Woody Harrelson, a longtime advocate of medical marijuana.

McCormick said he used the marijuana to relieve the pain of his cancer, citing Proposition 215, passed by California voters last November. The measure declared marijuana use legal for those with a doctor’s prescription. Federal authorities, however, continue to enforce federal laws against possession, sale or use of marijuana.

The white Chatsworth house with its brick walk and a manicured lawn would have made a good set for a modern-day version of “Leave It to Beaver.”

Unlike the Bel-Air mansion, where plants were visible through the windows and from neighboring yards, the windows in the Chatsworth house were covered in plastic.

Neighbors said they were shocked to learn of the marijuana-growing business, but others said they sensed something was odd about the place. One woman, who asked not to be identified, said she noticed cars driving in and out at all hours and that no one ever seemed to stay long.