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Mastrap · Feb 24, 2006, 08:43 PM

Gotta give them full marks for ingenuity.

This is how they grow it in Tennessee . This grow was underneath a
house in a cave. The entrance was through a secret hydraulic door in the
garage that led to a concrete ramp that went about 50 yards into the
ground. Inside the cave was living quarters and a secret escape hatch that
led you through a tunnel that exited via another hydraulic door that
opened up a rock on the outside. It was very elaborate. The set up
allowed them to harvest every 60 days which resulted in multi-million
dollar sales. One of the guys busted was living in a house on the water
in FL and had a nice yacht.
One of the agents here in Nashville worked on this for 5 years
before the warrant was finally served in December.

Kevin · Feb 24, 2006, 08:46 PM

I have to say that is very cool.

Batman would approve.

IceEnclosure · Feb 24, 2006, 08:48 PM

that's awesome. But gosh, 5 years.. how many brain cells did they allow to be MUR-DURRRED during that time? a lot.

south florida's got quite a few grow houses.. takes some balls, I'd say.

Spliffdaddy · Feb 24, 2006, 08:49 PM

That looks more like someplace west of Nashville.

Perhaps near Crossville, where caves are more abundant.

At any rate, there's no compelling reason for pot to be illegal.

mduell · Feb 24, 2006, 09:07 PM

Let me guess, the electricity usage gave them away?

Mastrap · Feb 24, 2006, 09:35 PM

No idea. I should assume they would have had that angle covered. Pretty ingenious.

Cadaver · Feb 24, 2006, 09:36 PM

Wow. Very high tech.

powerbook867 · Feb 24, 2006, 09:51 PM

WOW. I do reef tanks that require a lot of light/water movement/filtration and I figure I am using about 800-900 watts of juice 24x7. That was *only* with 360 watts of light over a 65 gallon tank.

The electric bill for a setup like that had to be astronomical....which I'm sure set the police off. I've heard stories of guys with big reef tanks in NYC where the police come knocking because their juice bills are so high...

5 years to bust these guys? That's a lot of effort..I'm afraid to think of how many tax payer dollars went into that op....

Kevin · Feb 24, 2006, 10:00 PM

That looks like some high grade stuff as well.

PacHead · Feb 24, 2006, 10:01 PM

Nice setup.

The cops should worry about more important things though.

waxcrash · Feb 24, 2006, 10:05 PM

This reminds me of this…

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/dope/

subego · Feb 24, 2006, 10:07 PM

Originally Posted by powerbook867

That was *only* with 360 watts of light over a 65 gallon tank.

Are you using fluorescent?

subego · Feb 24, 2006, 10:08 PM

Originally Posted by Mastrap

This one reminds me of "Hogan's Heroes".

RAILhead · Feb 24, 2006, 10:18 PM

I wish I had a secret underground tunnel to a rock at my house.

IceEnclosure · Feb 24, 2006, 10:23 PM

Originally Posted by RAILhead

I wish I had a secret underground tunnel to a rock at my house.

****in' hell yea!

greenamp · 10:40 PM

Wow that is simply awesome.

Tennessee officials have actually done long term studies on the farming of Marijuana, b/c where it to ever be legalized TN is one of the best places in the country to grow it. Mild winters, mild summers, high humidity, and most importantly, interstate I40

production_coordinator · Feb 24, 2006, 10:33 PM

That's is VERY cool...

That being said, I think it is the complexity and/or the amount of electricity needed for the site that probably gave them away. How would you go about building something like that without people figuring it out?

Also, it took the police 5 years to figure it out... they could have been doing it for decades.

Albert Pujols · Feb 24, 2006, 10:34 PM

the cave was a good idea, recently on the local news I saw this family that got busted for growing weed in their house. They had it growing in bedrooms and closets, there was so much weed the neighbors could smell it from the street.

greenamp · Feb 24, 2006, 10:37 PM

I wonder what they are gonna do with that house? Auction it off maybe? I bet people would pay a ton of money for that setup.

Albert Pujols · Feb 24, 2006, 10:52 PM

Originally Posted by greenamp

I wonder what they are gonna do with that house? Auction it off maybe? I bet people would pay a ton of money for that setup.

That would be awesome, I'd use that place to grow weed.. oh wait.

aberdeenwriter · Feb 24, 2006, 11:07 PM

Originally Posted by Albert Pujols

That would be awesome, I'd use that place to grow weed.. oh wait.

macintologist · Feb 24, 2006, 11:22 PM

People will look back on these photos like we look back on photos of prohibition agents in Texas busting destillery plants.

Drug laws are such a god damn joke.

aberdeenwriter · Feb 24, 2006, 11:41 PM

Originally Posted by macintologist

People will look back on these photos like we look back on photos of prohibition agents in Texas busting destillery plants.

Drug laws are such a god damn joke.

You got THAT right, bro! Know what I'm sayin?

Kevin · Feb 24, 2006, 11:54 PM

Originally Posted by Albert Pujols

the cave was a good idea, recently on the local news I saw this family that got busted for growing weed in their house. They had it growing in bedrooms and closets, there was so much weed the neighbors could smell it from the street.

Yeah, I have been in houses with just a dozen or less decent plants, and you can smell it at the door.

waxcrash · 12:09 AM

Originally Posted by macintologist

People will look back on these photos like we look back on photos of prohibition agents in Texas busting destillery plants.

Drug laws are such a god damn joke.

Or Al Capone, how he ran liquor from Canada through Detroit to Chicago.

Rolling Bones · Feb 25, 2006, 12:18 AM

No WMDs?

Sh!t, Saddam shoulda had a set-up like that with all his money. Instead he had a little spider hole.

PacHead · Feb 25, 2006, 12:29 AM

Originally Posted by Kevin

Yeah, I have been in houses with just a dozen or less decent plants, and you can smell it at the door.

There's hundreds, if not more than a thousand different strains of pot. The trick is to choose a non-smelly one (but still potent and tasty) that is suited for growing indoors. Some kinds give off way more odor than others.

hickey · Feb 25, 2006, 01:00 AM

i wonder what other kind of goodies are hidden down there. bodies perhaps??

SirCastor · Feb 25, 2006, 04:49 PM

I agree with outlawing substances which deny a person his ability to think clearly. But even that call has faults. There are medical necessities which support other options.

Anyway, the setup is pretty impressive. I second the batcave comments. This thing is pretty dang cool. I hope there are cool facilities like this housing secret home-brewed Cold fusion reactors, the like.

IceEnclosure · Feb 25, 2006, 05:11 PM

what options to power that setup without running off the house? Diesel(or other) generators?

wdlove · Feb 25, 2006, 05:24 PM

That is a very elaborate setup. Something of that magnitude is bound be to caught,

subego · Feb 25, 2006, 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by IceEnclosure

Diesel(or other) generators?

I think the fumes might be an unnecessary tip-off.

At the very least you'd want your primary to be some sort of solar/battery set-up, with the genny as a backup.

It's sunny in TN, right?

The Godfather · Feb 25, 2006, 07:56 PM

I wonder if it was owned by Al-qaeda.

nredman · Feb 25, 2006, 10:58 PM

sweet

thats alot of f'ing pot

rozwado1 · Feb 25, 2006, 11:05 PM

Originally Posted by IceEnclosure

what options to power that setup without running off the house? Diesel(or other) generators?

hampster wheels?

KeriVit · Feb 26, 2006, 12:37 AM

Wow. I wish I could do that... sans pot.

KeriVit · Feb 26, 2006, 12:41 AM

Wow. I wish I could do that... sans pot.

scaught · Feb 26, 2006, 01:09 AM

Originally Posted by The Godfather

I wonder if it was owned by Al-qaeda.

im guessing no. they found and busted this operation.

Kevin · Feb 26, 2006, 01:18 AM

This just goes to show, anyone can turn anything into a zealous political rant.

ReggieX · Feb 26, 2006, 02:26 AM

I have you now, Batman!

Originally Posted by IceEnclosure

what options to power that setup without running off the house? Diesel(or other) generators?

Hell no, not generators. Tap into the main power grid directly, bypassing the house meter. The utility will see a large drain, but can only isolate it to the neighbourhood trunk.

DigitalEl · Feb 26, 2006, 03:48 AM

This one reminds me of "Hogan's Heroes".

Or like somethin' on Lost.

Where do you even find the hardware to rig that up. That hydraulic door... Impressive. The hydraulic rock, even cooler.

aberdeenwriter · Feb 26, 2006, 03:53 AM

Originally Posted by PacHead

There's hundreds, if not more than a thousand different strains of pot. The trick is to choose a non-smelly one (but still potent and tasty) that is suited for growing indoors. Some kinds give off way more odor than others.

Does the smell the plants give off provide any indication of how high it will get you?

Does the smelliest stuff get you higher than the stuff that can't be detected easily??

aberdeenwriter · Feb 26, 2006, 04:01 AM

Originally Posted by ReggieX

I have you now, Batman!

Hell no, not generators. Tap into the main power grid directly, bypassing the house meter. The utility will see a large drain, but can only isolate it to the neighbourhood trunk.

Uh, no offense or anything, but isn't that an example of pot smokers logic?

I mean, if the power company detects a power drain and can ONLY narrow it down to the neighborhood and you have houses like the one in the pic, it will only be a matter of time before they zero in on the offender, don't you think?

macaddict0001 · Feb 26, 2006, 05:35 AM

Nice setup, a methane fueled generator would probably be a good choice no smell no smoke, same with propane. Up here in canada though we grow it outside, especially in the vancouver/langly(possibly spelled wrong) area.

ambush · Feb 26, 2006, 09:41 AM

That's a nice pot factory

If you want to grow weed, buy carbon filters and if you're mass growing, pipe the room's air exhaust to your sewer connection.

rozwado1 · Feb 26, 2006, 10:11 AM

Originally Posted by ambush

That's a nice pot factory

If you want to grow weed, buy carbon filters and if you're mass growing, pipe the room's air exhaust to your sewer connection.

Make sure you install a back-flow preventer.

Jens Peter · Feb 26, 2006, 10:25 AM

wow - I just saw a episode of C.S.I. Las Vegas, where there were a setup like that.
They didn't get busted - but killed. But Grisom and gorgeous Sara found the killers

Spliffdaddy · Feb 26, 2006, 11:47 AM

I think the authorities should have been suspicious when the guy bought 7500 5 gallon plastic buckets.

sek929 · Feb 26, 2006, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by aberdeenwriter

Does the smell the plants give off provide any indication of how high it will get you?

Does the smelliest stuff get you higher than the stuff that can't be detected easily??

Not really, if it smells good it is bound to be good, but I have come across some strains that barely have an odor at all but certainly will put your lights out if you smoke it thinking it is weaker stuff.

PacHead · 12:40 PM

Originally Posted by aberdeenwriter

Does the smell the plants give off provide any indication of how high it will get you?

Does the smelliest stuff get you higher than the stuff that can't be detected easily??

You can usually judge finished weed by the smell of the buds (and obviously from smoking it). There's different kinds of highs from different kinds of weed. Imagine a wine store with hundreds of different kinds of varieties, flavors and tastes. That's how weed is also, in my opinion. Some weed gives you a head high, others give you a body high, some makes you alert, some makes you sleepy, some makes you get the munchies.
Odor is not always connected to the potency, but usually, a bag that smells really strong is a good indicator that you're not getting some cheap Mexican schwag for example. I can't stand schwag.