Police: $500K worth of pot found in grow house

ATLANTA — Atlanta police say they've busted a major marijuana grow house operating in a quiet southwest side neighborhood.

No arrests have been made so far, but investigators said they are seeking arrest warrants.

Police spent hours at a home on Telford Terrace just off Fairburn Road on Monday, dismantling what they called a well set up operation.

In all, APD estimates 250 pot plants were growing in several rooms of the house. Officers estimate the street value at $500,000.

Neighbors Channel 2's Tony Thomas spoke to said they had no idea anything suspicious was going on until police arrived to search the area on Sunday.

"It's amazing to know just a couple houses down from my house that something could be taking place," said one neighbor who didn't want to be identified. "My daughter, when she came home last night, she said she smelled something."

Police said they made the discovery while on an unrelated call in the area. Officers noticed an overwhelming smell of pot and brought a drug dog in. The smelled around and began focusing on the house. Officers then found the stash after obtaining a search warrant.

"There were approximately four rooms that were set up and the marijuana were divided up in those rooms according to size. They also had a number of plants that were hung down the basement to dry," said Officer John Chafee.

Police showed Channel 2 Action News a bag of dried product investigators brought out of the house. Police said there were several water barrels inside the home used to pipe water to the plants before they were dried in the basement.

Both police and neighbors now wonder how long this operation had been hiding in plain sight.

"Anytime you have drug trafficking, nothing good happens," one neighbor said as he watched police haul out the plants.

WSBTV