High Electric Bill Prompts Drug Raid - HELLO PATRIOT ACT

[matcom]

:grr:

<snip>

CARLSBAD, Calif. -- A North County family asked police for a written apology after officers raided their home in search of drugs because of a high electric bill.

Dina Dagy said her three children, four ceiling fans, three computers, two to three daily loads of laundry and one to two daily dishwasher cycles elevated the family's power bill.

Unusually high energy bills can be a sign that residents are growing marijuana indoors with powerful lamps that gobble electricity, police said. Carlsbad Detective Sgt. Matt Magro said the Dagys used three times as much electricity in February compared to four other nearby homes. All the homes were selected at random, Magro said.

Detectives did not find any contraband in the Dagy home. Magro said he apologized to Dagy several times during the search, and he will gladly apologize again.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/2950274/detail.html

[revcarol]

1. Apologies are NOT enough.

Their b**** should be sued or FOI on informants at the power company invoked.

[mrbill]

2. this goes way back before the patriot act.

electric companies have been doing this for years.

a smart grow operation might run a bunch of non-energy efficent a/c window units to jack up the bill, then cut the power on those and turn on the grow lights averaging out the power bill.

on edit: typo

[mrdmk]

3. This is correct

At least here in California. The biggest cash crop in California has been for a long time marijuana. To deal with this "problem", watching citizens electric bills is a tactic long in use by law enforcement.

[NNN0LHI]

6. Wouldn't put a few 1000 Watt Metal Halide Light Bulbs on my Visa either

I think cash is the way to go with these purchases. Forget about the cash back award. And this was the case well before the Patriot Act too.

Don

[ET Awful]

8. Yup, very true.

This is nothing new. I remember hearing stuff like this at least 10 years ago.

A really smart grower would move into a neighborhood where all the neighbors were of the same . . .ummm . . . persuasion and leech power off all the neighbors :).

[sweetheart]

9. Yes and electric heat

A serious growing operation in the basement, with proper filtered
ventilation, can be well concealed by simply having electric heat
around the house + coat heat.

Then the grower "appears" to be heating with electricity whilst using
coal instead, keeping bills constant.

Even better if you can use natural light, but in urban areas,
a bit hard.

I wish someone would cross the cannabis plant with plants that are
impossible to kill off, like nettles, or crabgrass. Then when GM
cannabis hits the wild, the whole earth will have good grass!! :-)

[izzie]

4. Shut down your PC and put on sweaters and keep the heat low

The light company is in bed with the police. What next?

[Nobody]

5. Already doing that

since with the loss of my full time job two years ago, heat has been harder to afford.

(edited for clarity)

[Mika]

7. Police choppers use infrared cameras to detect heat grow lamps

In Miami-Dade the PD choppers fly low and slow over suspect neighborhoods. They take infrared photos as part of the evidence for a raid on the house.

[KharmaTrain]

10. This Does Not Compute

The Puter creates a power drain? C'mon. That's always been a big lie (not Snopes level)...most puters run on low-level DC that takes small amounts of amperage to operate (the stuff that pulls on the power lines that wake up the electric company).

I can see grow lights that burn a lot of heat or lots of motors (15 ACs or 25 loads of laundry or running a dozen refrigerators)...things that really suck up the juice, but not a computer. Methinks there's something else afoot here.

Not far from where I live, in a very rich, Conservative area, there have been several large mansions busted due to marijuana growing operations inside...but we're talking hundreds of grow lights and one particular operation had been in operation and under investigation for close to two years.

I sure hope Ms. Dagy finds a good lawyer and sues the shit out of all involved. Methinks she could get a nice stipend from all of this...then I'd take the money and move as far away from those bastards possible. Paging Johnny Cochrane.