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Montrose Shop Smelly Front for Pot Growing Operation
Inside an Oakland, CA grow house (Photo by spotreporting via Flickr)
These days, some businesses may have quiet storefronts and booming online sales, which means passers-by might not think twice about a store that's missing some hustle and bustle. Then again, that store might just be a front for an indoor marijuana operation, like the Blue Seas travel agency in Montrose was, according to the Glendale News-Press. Paired with a medical supply business, and a high-end clothing store, the shops were the cover for "a full-scale cultivation operation that included lights, ventilation and 381 marijuana plants," and now its operators, five men between the ages of 22 and 32, have been arrested.
"I thought they were doing business on the Internet," said a neighboring business owner, who remarked he noticed the shop was frequently closed. Had he gotten close enough to sniff things out, he might have guessed the real reason for the quiet: "All you have to do is walk up to the front of the building and smell the marijuana," said Glendale Police Department Sgt. Tom Lorenz.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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