News of the Nature Coast of Florida

HERNANDO - Members of the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office Tactical Impact Unit (TIU) served two search warrants and made three arrests on Thursday at separate, yet related, residences in Hernando.

What they discovered were two sophisticated grow operations yielding hundreds of quality, high-grade marijuana plants.

Capt. Mike Richie said his unit members had received information from a Miami-Dade Police Department detective that focused their attention on a residence at 1725 E. Fletcher St. as a possible grow house location. During the course of their own investigation, which started at the end of October, they were able to connect a second residence at 763 E. Gaines Lane as another potential location for marijuana cultivation.

At the Fletcher Street address, one grow room was discovered in an add-on to the primary residence. Outside, three more large grow rooms were found in two sheds and a barn on the property. Reaching heights of five feet or so, 81 high-quality plants were seized at this address.

Two Hispanic males, 31-year-old Michael Martinez and 33-year-old Luis Balverde, were taken into custody. They are facing charges of trafficking in cannabis; conspiring to commit trafficking in cannabis; owning, leasing or renting a structure for the purpose of trafficking or manufacturing a controlled substance; and utilizing drug paraphernalia to cultivate a controlled substance, with no bond. Additional charges may be pending.

Progress Energy also played a significant role in this investigation and is determining the amount and value of the stolen power that was diverted to both venues.

A Hispanic female, 35-year-old Niuria Calzada, who was identified as another suspect in these grow operations, was detained following a traffic stop as she drove by the Fletcher Street address. She was taken back to the residence on Fletcher and subsequently charged with conspiring to commit trafficking in cannabis, and no bond was set. More charges may be added.

Once the second search warrant was served, the Gaines Lane address yielded seven grow rooms inside the residence, with a whopping total of 322 high-grade marijuana plants on the premises. Both grow operations utilized elaborate lighting and watering systems, transformers and more. A huge, genetically favored host plant used to clone all of the producing plants in each of the venues was seized at both grow houses. The larger of the two was 9 feet tall and extraordinarily full.

According to TIU member Detective John Novy, these grow operations were definitely well established, especially since the producing plants themselves ranged in size and growth history from cloned clippings to mature adult plants.

“And finding the host plant at each of the two grow houses was something we don’t often see,” he added.

According to Novy, the estimated annual net income realized by each of the cultivation venues was approximately $350,000.