identifying a grow house

IDENTIFYING A GROW HOUSE - There are a number of signs that a building may being used as a marijuana grow house.

• Buyer or tenant unloads unrecognizable equipment and very few household furnishings.

• Buyer or tenant unloads copper and/or PVC pipe, soil, halogen lamps, large amounts of black plastic aluminum ducting, and fans.

• Tenants come and go at unusual hours but never seem to stay overnight.

• Little or no garbage is brought to the curb each week.

• Mail is rarely delivered to the house, and the mailbox may be taped shut.

• Windows are always dark and may be secured with metal bars, blacked out or heavily draped.

• Strong and strange odors coming from the house.

Heavy condensation on the inside of the windows due to high humidity.

• Humming sound of fans or generators.

• Condensation or discoloring on the roof. No snow on roof in winter.

• Individuals arriving at the house to put out the garbage, move toys in the front yard, cut the lawn and then leaving immediately.

• People entering and exiting the residence only through the garage keeping the garage door closed.

• Unusual wiring on the outside or signs the hydro meter has been tampered with.

• Unusual visitor behavior — no visitors or frequent visitors for short periods.

• Bright interior lights left on all day and night.

Noticeable signs that you may be dealing with a former grow house include:

• Mold in corners where the walls and ceilings meet.

• Painted concrete floors in the basement, with circular marks of where pots once were.

• Evidence of tampering with the electric meter (damaged or broken seals) or the ground around it.

• Unusual or modified wiring on the exterior of the house or in the attic.

• Concrete masonry patches, or alterations on the inside of the garage.

• Patterns of screw holes on the walls.

• Multiple air conditioning units.

• Unusual PVC piping or pool pump.

Keep an eye out for the suspicious activity such as:

• Third party purchasers.

• Questionable income sources.

• No contract negotiation.

• Offers to pay in large amounts of cash.

• Multiple cash transactions.

• Multiple down payments on behalf of one individual.

• Secretiveness and no reasonable explanation for activities.

Tips for Landlords and Property Managers Your suspicions may also be raised if you're negotiating a lease for a private home.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Did the applicant check out every room?

• Did the applicant provide proper identification such as a passport or driver's license?

• Have references been provided and do they check out?

• Did the applicant fill out the application on site?

• Does the applicant understand the terms of the lease agreement?

• Did the renter spend a lot of time viewing the breaker-boxes, wiring and plumbing fixtures?

9/13/2018 Franklin County Sheriff's Office 6

PRE-RENT WARNING INDICATORS

• Prefers units away from view of management

• Request to make cash payments in advance (resist this request)

• Accept only photo identification

• Require more than one type of identification

• Ensure ID is not altered or fake

• Check prospective tenant’s current address

• Check their rental history

• Watch for telephone accounts in different names

• Obtain mobile phone numbers for tenants

• Obtain vehicle tag numbers and description of vehicles

• Uses “self-employed” on application or bogus employment


INDICATORS FOR DRUG ACTIVITY

Pays rent in cash, usually in $10 or $20 bills (“doper roll”)

A sudden jump in electric/water bills

Frequent visitors who stay only a short period of time

Person who rented apartment is never there.

Little or no furniture, however has high priced electronics

Wears lots of jewelry, latest styles of clothing

High priced cars with expensive accessories

Renters who change their own locks or unusual fortification of

doors/windows (blacked-out windows, window bars, etc.)


INDICATORS CON’T

Renter who installs alarm system or surveillance equipment

Apartment always has windows covered.

Constant foot and vehicle traffic especially late at night

Occupant outside meeting with several persons (items exchanged)

Lookouts

Safe in apartment

Guns in apartment

Pit Bull dogs in apartment

Occupants constantly using cellular phone

Chemical or drug odors coming from apartment.


STASH HOUSE INDICATORS

Most drug stash houses are rental homes

Stash house caretakers prefer homes with attached garages

Yard is not cared for, although sometimes they send someone

periodically to clean up to avoid attention.

Usually little, if any, furniture in the home

Occupants tend to keep to themselves and they will not be

visible on a daily basis.

If the occupants are actually living at the stash house, they

will not appear to hold a regular job, or have a “normal”

pattern of lifestyle.


STASH HOUSE INDICATORS CONTINUED

Different types of vehicles, especially vans and pick up trucks

will enter and exit the garage at different hours of the day or night,

quite often they prefer to work in the night or early morning.

The vehicles arriving at the stash house will have different

license plates from out of state, including Texas, New Mexico,

Arizona, Florida, and Mexico. Also look for “buyer” or “dealer”

tags. They may also use these license plates interchangeably with

all of the vehicles

You may not see anyone at the stash house for several days or

weeks, and then there will be a lot of activity (described above)

You may see accumulation of advertisement material on door

Stash house occupants do not usually put their trash out for

regular collection, prefer to dump at another location themselves


WHAT DO I DO IF A TENANT IS A SUSPECTED DEALER?

Contact local law enforcement (KEEP CALLING!)

Call County, State, or Federal agency if locals won’t help

Documentation on your part; license plates, photo’s, etc.

Trash pulls – (trash is a valuable source of information)

Train maintenance people on what to look for (record checks on

maintenance personnel)

Get other tenants together to complain with you.

Posting of warning signs (install working or “dummy” cameras)

Send a letter warning tenant of the activity you suspect.

Video tape their activity – dealers don’t like to be taped

FOLLOW

YOUR

POLICY!!!!!!!!!!

WEB SITES• www.urbandictionary.com• www.erowid.org• www.bluelight.org• odh.ohio.gov• www.dancesafe.org• www.streetdrugs.org• www.projectghb.org• www.drugabuse.gov• www.inhalants.org• www.waterbedsnstuff.com• www.nida.nih.gov• www.samhsa.gov• www.teens.drugabuse.gov• www.drugfreeactionalliance.org• www.drugfree.org• www.FBI.gov/ChasingTheDragon

9/13/2018 13

Where To Get Help

• mha.ohio.gov (Providers by County)

• drugabuse.com (Abuse/Addiction Treatment)

• Recovery.org (Recovery process/ratings/major cities in U.S.)

• Interventionamerica.com (National Resource on Recovery)

• Rehabhotline.org (Rehab Referral/Placement)

GLOBALDRUGCONCEPTS.COM

[email protected]

PHONE: (614) 981-9323

Shawn Bain (614) 506-2158

[email protected]

Michael Powell (614) 496-8214

[email protected]

identifying a grow house

Documents