FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Ray Hanania
Tuesday June 28, 2011 312-933-9855 cell
Cicero busts $4 million home converted into marijuana laboratory (with video — no sound)
Cicero Police today announced they have charged two people with growing nearly 1,000 marijuana plants and 40 pounds of high grade cannabis valued at over $4 million.
Police Supt. Bernard Harrison said that the home at 5037 W. 32nd Street had been engineered specifically to create the right atmosphere to grow the plants inside.
The discovery was made last Tuesday but was not released until today.
“They re-wired the home for electricity, putting in an additional four circuit boxes and they by-passed the electrical meter getting it directly from the outside power lines,” Harrison said.
“They had 21 air conditioners running, sealed humidity and temperature controls and special lighting with a nursery in one room and growing rooms filled with mature plants ready to be processed. The exterior walls had three inch thick foam padding reinforced with 1/4 inch aluminum insulation. The idea was to create the ideal environment to grow the high grade marijuana but to also keep the smell of the plants inside. From the outside, it looked like a regular home. On the inside, it looked like something out of a bad B movie.”
Charged were Ryan A. Geru (DOB Sept. 25, 1980) and Christopher G. Newman (DOB June 3, 1972).
Harrison said police chased the suspects who ran from the home which he described as “a maze on the inside of hallways and rooms used to grow and prepare the marijuana.”
Police said the discovery began as a routine traffic stop near the home at around 7 pm. In inspecting the 2002 Red Cadillac, officers identified the scent of marijuana which led them to the property of the owner. The outside doors of the home were reinforced with heavy steel and the bolts were visible from the outside. K9 drug sniffing dogs were brought in to check the property before entering.
The two suspects tried to escape through a special door but were apprehended by police as they ran. A search warrant was obtained from Judge Jagielski.
Both suspects were charged with a Class X Felony for manufacturing the drug and two lesser felonies for possession and for the criminal fortification of a residential home.
A copy of the video of the interior of the home and the plants and property will be posted on the Town of Cicero News Wire for public use shortly.
http://ciceronewswire.blogspot.com
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