A typical road with typical houses in Washington Manor
SAN LEANDRO – More than 30 San Leandro police officers and detectives raided six houses Wednesday, beginning at 7 a.m., where they arrested five individuals charged with illegal cultivation and possession of marijuana for sale.
Search warrants were served at homes located in the Broadmoor, Bay-O-Vista and Washington Manor neighborhoods, following an investigation undercover detectives began in July when neighbors reported suspicious activity.
Detectives are in contact with other law enforcement agencies to determine whether the homes raided are part of larger network of cannabis grow houses tucked away in Bay Area communities. For this reason, San Leandro police have yet to release the names of those arrested.
A police dog was used to apprehend one of the suspects who fled through a hatch in the floor of one the houses and hid inside a crawl space. A Cantonese-speaking officer tried communicating with the Chinese-American man for more than 45 minutes, before the dog flushed him out. He was treated for minor injuries sustained during his arrest.
Police seized than 2,000 mature cannabis plants from four houses with elaborate indoor cultivation setups, along with more than $40,000 cash from one of the houses, which police believe are sales proceeds. Police estimate the street value of the plants at around $400,000.
Based on the size and design of grow operations, police said the four homes where plants were growing could net $1.6 million annually in cannabis sales. No illegal electric meter bypasses were found and police estimate electric bills ranged from $6,000 to $10,000 per month for growing equipment.
“The unique thing about this is that homes didn’t stand out. They looked like any house in a quiet neighborhood, said San Leandro police Lt. Robert McManus in a written statement announcing the raid late Wednesday.
