What started a routine fire at a Tampa-area home early Wednesday turned into the bust of a massive marijuana grow house, reported My Fox Tampa Bay.
Fire rescue crews from Tampa and Temple Terrace received a call at 2 a.m. reporting that a house had caught fire. Firefighters worked for nearly an hour before getting the flames under control. It was then that they discovered a room containing 306 pounds of marijuana. After obtaining a search warrant, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies spent four hours removing 15 marijuana plants, estimated to be worth $765,000.
According to sheriff's office spokeswoman Cristal Bermudez Nunez, it was clear that the “rooms had been converted for the sole purpose of cultivating marijuana.”
Fire investigators have not yet determined the cause of the fire, but deputies say several suspects have been identified and arrests are forthcoming
The house was located a block away from an elementary school.
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