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'Sophisticated and elaborate' Citrus Co. pot growing operation busted for power bills

Some Lacanto residents were footing the power bill for a marijuana grow operation and didn't even know it.
PHOTO: Citrus County Sheriff's Office

LACANTO, Fla.—It wasn’t just leaving the lights on that got one Lecanto man’s marijuana grow operation busted by the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office Tactical Impact Unit Thursday.

Detectives said the “sophisticated and elaborate marijuana grow operation” was being maintained by a large amount of electricity. The bill for some of that power was footed by a few unsuspecting residents in the neighborhood, according to deputies.

The homeowner, 45-year-old Yoel Aquino Alonso, was stealing power by diverting it before it got to the meter box and replacing the Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative’s transformer with a bigger one, said law enforcement.

Over the course of the last six months, the estimated power stolen due to this marijuana operation is approximately $26,740.53, according to deputies.

“Putting a stop to this significant violation of state and federal law is precisely what the citizens of Citrus County want us to do,” said Sheriff Mike Prendergast. “Stealing power from a utility company causes all of us to pay more for our electricity. Using the stolen electricity to illegally grow marijuana makes it even more unforgivable. We will continue to pursue felony law violations like this until we run the criminals out of our county.”

Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative manager of member relations, Davis Lambert said they were well aware of the issue and were working with state and federal agencies to fix this.

“Operations like this are a major problem for utility companies. There are thousands of grow houses that end up with millions stolen,” said Lambert.

Customers will go into rate base as the company works to calculate the damage done by the operation, said Lambert.

Detectives said they found 37 marijuana plants weighing approximately 220.5 pounds at the residence. Alonso was arrested for trafficking in marijuana, cultivation of marijuana and theft of utilities.

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