The wiring at Monday's indoor marijuana bust was not up to city... (Sarah Baldik/The Daily Journal)
A tip from a neighbor led to the discovery by Ukiah Police Department officers of a 150-plant commercial marijuana growing operation in a facility leased by a Ukiah High School teacher, according to police reports. Ukiah police officers raided the grow rooms at around 3:30 p.m. Monday at a storage facility in the 700 block of North State Street. Police said more arrests may follow.
Chris Dewey, UPD chief, said a search warrant was obtained by officers for the storage facility after a nearby resident called and filed a complaint about the smell.
Dewey said the investigation led to the arrest of UHS teacher Jeff Duane Burrell, of Calpella.
When officers arrived on scene only a series of dim green lights were illuminated in the grow rooms. UPD Capt. Justin Wyatt said the reason the high-voltage, high-heat grow lights situated directly above the plants were off at the time of the raid was because they had been set by a series of timers that were attached the operation's homemade electrical system.
"They do their best to duplicate the growing cycle," he said, motioning towards the fixtures above. "I think right now this is supposed to simulate night."
Wyatt said the adjoining two rooms where the gardens were situated contained different strains of marijuana.
"The ones in this first room are shorter, but they are budding," he said, pointing to the top of a plant in the front room of the facility. "These are less than a month away from harvest. None of these in the other room have budded yet even though they're taller."
In addition to the pair of gardens, officers also discovered the remains of several harvested plants stacked in one corner. A drying room which contained several pounds of dried marijuana in various stages of processing was also found. In the small space between the two doors was an automated trimming appliance called a TrimPro which officers said utilized a series of whirling blades to clip leaves away from the buds. The device was named Best Trimming Product in 2005 by "High Times."
Dewey said the loose wiring and high voltage involved was the most dangerous part of the operation.
"This is typical of illegal growing operations," he said. "The amount of electricity being used didn't fit the building. They were using four to five times as many kilowatt hours as the average household. This is just an accident waiting to happen."
Burrell was head coach of the UHS girls basketball team and was honored two years ago by the Mendocino College Hall of Fame as a standout football and baseball player who matriculated to Humboldt State University, where he started for two years at fullback.
Rob Burgess can be reached at udjrb@pacific.net.
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