Authorities in Las Vegas this week seized thousands of marijuana plants valued at millions of dollars in what was a record bust for the jurisdiction.
The city’s metropolitan police said that officers found 5,700 plants worth an estimated $8.6 million in a raid on Wednesday of an old warehouse.
The raid was, according to local news reports, the culmination of a months-long investigation into a sophisticated growing operation. According to local television station KSNV, it was the “largest indoor marijuana grow house bust ever” for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
“A large portion of the warehouse had been converted into a sophisticated illegal marijuana grow operation,” reported a different station, KTNV, noting that investigators also “found lighting, ballasts, duct work, chemicals, charcoal filters and other items associated with a large-scale growth operation.”
Wednesday’s bust easily eclipses the previous largest raid for the local police, which came in 2013 and led to the seizure of 3,244 plants.
Nevada Cannabis Laws
Nevada state law allows adults aged 21 and older to grow marijuana “at home for their personal consumption, but only if there is not a state-licensed retail marijuana store within 25 miles of the home.” They may grow up to six plants per person, but no more than 12 in a household, and “must be grown within a closet, room, greenhouse, or other enclosed area that is equipped with a lock or other security device.”
While marijuana sales have surged in certain markets during the COVID-19 pandemic, with many customers resigned to an isolated existence at home, Nevada’s marijuana industry appears to have been hammered by the crisis.
Riana Durrett, executive director of the Nevada Dispensary Association, told the Reno Gazette Journal this month that it “safe to say sales are below 50 percent statewide, many stores are below that, and some are (temporarily) closed.
Nevada marijuana dispensaries were forced to close their storefronts last month after a shutdown order from Gov. Steve Sisolak to stem the spread of the coronavirus. The dispensaries have since only been able to conduct sales via delivery.
“(It) was a mixture of the lack of capacity to meet the market demand through delivery, a drop in tourism and because people had already stocked up,” Durrett said of the plunge in sales.
If it’s not legal then yes this was right
Growing plants , no matter what quantity should ALWAYS be legal.
There are lots of things that are legal but not right. Just as there are things that are illegal that should not be. “Legal” doesn’t mean squat. Right is right, wrong is wrong.
Cool
Good to see police in Nevada are wasting money on marijuana busts still, there is much more to be worried about especially right now
Each individual plant is worth $1500? lmao Vegas cops need to stay out of the evidence locker 🤦🏽♂️😂
in reply to the comment by “L”……something that will NEVER happen: All people aspiring to become police officers will need to undergo a comprehensive LIE detector test, to weed out the ones who are in it to gain access to drugs, money and basically be on the take…if this was introduced, be prepared to see future and current police forces dwindle by as much as fifty percent…absurd , offensive you say ? well how many of us have had down right criminal behavior from police officers ? I have myself, more than once. Unfortunately, they are just people, and some people lie, cheat and steal. We as a global society put far too much implicit trust in these people, the ones who WANT to be in this role, their motives need to be scrutinized far more carefully..if every police officer was honest and only those who passed this test become officers, I guarantee their reputation would not be in tatters, like it is now. Their reputation is a direct reflection of their conduct, and there are many, many officers who simply do not belong in that role. L jokes about the evidence locker, I would imagine a lot of things never even make it into the evidence locker….
Cannabis is not legal in Nevada or MA, or pretty much anywhere. If it’s legal, why are people still getting arrested?
Why not send in a licensing agent and tell these growers what they need to do to make it legal and fine them a $ amount % on the value of the crop. Win/win. Fools are still trying to control the growth of a weed.
Smartest comment here. Thei needed a win was all this was.. an easy win for ybe police. It’s not truly gonna affect society one bit, no one is any safer due to this and I thought cops were to protect and serve.
I know it says that but judicially speaking, they are not truly required. Like if they see people about to get shot or stabbed, they don’t have to do a damn thing till after due to ybe danger that thei put themselves in.
Only when absolutely no danger to themselves will they react. I’m not saying thei should run I to s bullet but at least try,look for the opportunity, not ignore it.