Operation Sweet Leaf busts justified by damage to society, commander says
Last week, various law-enforcement agencies in the metro area unleashed Operation Sweet Leaf, featuring 25 grow-house raids, sixteen arrests and more. Since then, Commander Jerry Peters of the North Metro Drug Task Force, which led the effort, has heard doubts about the necessity for such a large-scale sweep. However, he believes doing so was vital -- and he explains why below.
A busted grow.
In addition to the grow houses shuttered and the aforementioned arrests, authorities also collected over 147 pounds of marijuana, nearly 3,000 plants, around forty guns, more than $278,000 in U.S. currency and, for reasons officers have yet to discern, about fifteen million Iraqi dinar. In addition, seven children were found to be living in close proximity to the grows, "which is alarming to us," Peters notes. Social Services has now placed them in new settings.
Initial reports identified 22-year-old Jordan Buehrer as the main perpetrator, but Peters says that doesn't tell the whole story.
Commander Jerry Peters.
"We believe there were three sort of ringleaders to this operation," he says. "They all worked cooperatively with each other. One would have several grow houses, another would have several grow houses, and they would commingle their marijuana and ship it out of state, depending on the order they were receiving."
Peters can't go into detail about all the sales tracked by authorities because the investigation is ongoing. But he says at least seven states are thought to have received Operation Sweet Leaf shipments, including California, Texas, Iowa and Nebraska. He adds that "95 percent of all the marijuana grown here was being outsourced. So we've become one of the main source states for marijuana. We're the neighbor nobody wants."
While officers don't contend that medical marijuana centers or cultivation sites were being used as a front to conceal illegal activity, Peters believes the MMJ industry has attracted criminals who feel its growth allows them to hide in plain sight.
A file photo of a large home grow.
"I think what's happened is that with the accessibility that medical marijuana has brought to the people of Colorado, it's become acceptable -- and once it's acceptable, people start growing it on their own. And typically, what we see aren't two or three plants being grown in a back greenhouse or yard. We're seeing hundreds of plants in houses they've outfitted in nice neighborhoods. No one's living in them, and they've turned them into greenhouses and funnel the marijuana out of state, and not for medical purposes. It's become a diversified enterprise."
The crime is far from victimless, Peters believes. "These houses are being contaminated with mold. You can smell them from the outside, on the street, and the next people who move into the home aren't informed about it -- and that's a real health hazard for families and children. And the electricity bill is incredibly high. Let's say the energy usage for a normal house is 400 watts. Well, it's 4,000 watts for a typical grow house with 200 plants. That puts a tremendous burden on our energy levels. And then they move out without paying their bills. And who gets stuck with that cost? You and I do."
Page down to read more of Commander Jerry Peters's thoughts about Operation Sweet Leaf.
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