Marijuana plants found in house in Struthers

By Jeanne Starmack

starmack@vindy.com

STRUTHERS

City police found 90 marijuana plants and a sophisticated growing operation in a rental house on Park Avenue.

Struthers detective Jeff Pantall said police were called to the house at 1 p.m. Saturday by the landlord, who found the growing operation in the basement.

An investigation is continuing and charges are pending, Pantall said.

Pantall said the landlord and her boyfriend stopped at the house Saturday to collect rent and to get tools that were there.

The tenant wasn’t there, and they went through the unlocked back door to the basement to get tools.

While down there, they saw a door that wasn’t supposed to be there, Pantall said.

They heard fans, pumps and blowers and smelled the marijuana, Pantall said.

When they opened the door, they saw the plants and the operation and called police.

Pantall said that after checking with the law director, he called the tenant on his way down and asked him to meet police there. The tenant did not show up, he said.

The operation was dismantled and stored in the police-station garage. It consisted of lights, a watering system and electrical transformers. It included fans for ventilation on timers.

The plants were from 2 feet to 4 feet tall, Pantall said.

A raid at a Smithfield Street house a year ago also uncovered a sophisticated growing operation and from 60 to 70 plants, according to Vindicator files.