BUTLER TWP: Township police released details of significant marijuana manufacturing growing operation from a residence in a secluded development as the tenant was arrested earlier this month in Florida.
Police said more than 160 marijuana plants were seized when a search warrant was served at 11 Mink Springs Court in Beech Mountain Lakes. The search warrant was issued after an agent with the Pennsylvania Department of Probation and Parole provided information about a man at the house growing marijuana.
Police said the entire house had been utilized to grow marijuana and been stripped of furnishings and carpeting. Several marijuana plants were in excess of 8 feet tall.
More than 50 lights, a sophisticated ventilation system and electrical hook-ups designed to steal electricity were inside the house, police said.
Police said there was electrical wiring that bypassed the house circuit breaker. PPL Utilities estimated the theft of electricity at $37,506, police said.
An arrest warrant was issued for the house tenant, Daniel I. Lopez, 36, on March 2. Lopez was arrested in Florida with the assistance by U.S. Marshals.
Lopez is facing charges in Luzerne County of manufacturing a controlled substance, theft of services, criminal mischief and possession of drug paraphernalia, police said.
Police said about five pounds of processed marijuana was seized from the house, including additional pounds of marijuana and firearms related to the investigation outside Butler Township.
