May 2, 2008 7:11 pm US/Eastern
Family Wrongly Targeted In Drug Raid Wants Apology
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
More than one hundred Miami-Dade police officers, along with federal and state agents, raided homes that grow marijuana in a two-day operation. An Opa-Locka family on Friday asked one law enforcement agency, the DEA, for an apology since it wrongly targeted their home, and to repair the physical damage done inside.
Noel Llorente and his wife Isabel, at their attorney's office in North Miami Beach, said they would not be filing a lawsuit yet, but at the very least would like an apology and repair damage done when agents believed their home was growing marijuana.
DEA officials say they cannot comment on whether they made a mistake because it is still an open investigation.
It was called "Operation D-Day", and there were more than 50 grow houses across the county involved.
The operation lasted two days; officers arrested 49 people and confiscated more than 2,000 marijuana plants along with 1,700 pounds of marijuana which had a street value of nearly $7-million.
They also confiscated 8 firearms, a bullet proof vest and $113,600 in cash.
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, Miami-Dade has the highest number of "grow houses" in the state; so many are popping up across the state that agents have had to double the number of raids they conduct each year.
In 2007, federal and state agents along with local law enforcement raided one thousand suspected "grow houses"; the year before that only 510 drug houses were found.
The operation conducted in Miami Dade was coordinated with other crackdowns across the state.
In all, 9,249 marijuana plants were seized from more than 150 homes and 135 individuals involved in residential hydroponic marijuana labs were arrested.
In Broward County, officers raided 9 grow houses, seized 302 plants and made 10 arrests. The also confiscated $16,000 in cash and a firearm.
Local, state and federal officials say the success of the operation was due in large part to residents who contacted police when they suspected a grow house in their neighborhood.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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