5 Arrested, $10M Worth Of Marijuana Seized Near Compton
RANCHO DOMINGUEZ (CBS) — An anonymous tip led authorities to a warehouse where they found $10 million worth of marijuana near Compton Thursday.
"The plants that we've taken and the operation itself is capable of producing $30 million, or in excess of $30 million out of this warehouse," said Lt. Joseph Dempsey, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
A SWAT team raided the building at 9 a.m. and found five workers inside. Four people were arrested inside the building and another was nabbed a few miles away.
The structure had previously served as a manufacturing warehouse but the business closed when the recession hit.
Six months ago, someone called the owner and offered to lease the empty building.
Detectives wouldn't say who leased the building but said the suspect used every bit of the warehouse to grow and cultivate marijuana. There were also signs they were planning to expand the operation.
"Everything that we learned prior to coming in here, we learned that it would be this big of an operation," Dempsey said.
