Suspicious Plants Seized

WEEKI WACHEE - Drums filled with 211 marijuana plants were rolled into the back of a moving van Thursday after SWAT and a Hazmat team converged on a home in River Country, deputies said.

Neighbors stood stunned as authorities carried several plants from inside the house at 8087 Floral Drive.

"It's pretty unusual for this neighborhood," said Ian Turnbull, who lives down the road.

Other neighbors said they had no clue what was going on inside the single-family home, which according to property records is owned by Luis F. Rios.

Rios, 35, and Maria D. Rodriguez, 29, were charged with cultivation of marijuana, grand theft, meter tampering and manufacturing or distributing a narcotic in the presence of a minor.

Residents said the couple had been living there for about two years, but never noticed any suspicious activities or many visitors at the house.

Two children, ages 8 and 9, also lived at the house, according to an affidavit. Neither was home during the raid, which occurred before 10:30 a.m., neighbors said.

Hernando County Sheriff's deputies cordoned off the front yard with yellow tape. Representatives from Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative and a local air conditioning company arrived to disconnect services.

The defendants are accused of using wires to illegally tap into an underground power source. It is a technique known by illegal growers to avoid detection by the meter on the side of the house, according to the affidavit.

Additional electricity was needed to operate three additional air-conditioning units, several grow lights, fans and other items to grow the plants, deputies said.

Several deputies were carrying plants out to the front yard, knocking the dirt off the roots, chopping them into pieces and placing them inside four-foot tall drums, witnesses said.

Piles of potting soil covered most of the yard near the front porch.

Neighbors watching from across the street declined to comment.

Turnbull said it was the second time in the last couple of years in which authorities raided a suspected marijuana grow house in the neighborhood.

River Country is an upscale subdivision located southwest of Weeki Wachee Springs.

Bond was set at $65,500 for Rios and Rodriguez.