Marijuana Operation, Containing 500 Plants, Busted In Oklahoma Home

Police in Edmond, Oklahoma on Friday busted what they claimed the biggest marijuana growing operation they had ever come across, local media reported. Police said the operation, hidden inside a well-maintained and unremarkable home, contained about 500 plants.

Local news station News9 reported police coming out of the house in hazmat suits, and added that a moving truck and a dumpster were placed in front of the house to deal with the plants that were found all over the house. Some of the pot plants were as tall as four feet, according to local news station KOCO.

The officers investigated the house after the homeowner -- who had learned that the house did not have power since March -- called police to check the welfare of the renters.

Bill Womble, the neighbor living across from the house, said that he had rarely seen the house’s inhabitants until the power went out. “When the electricity was off, he was asking if ours was off, too,” he told News9.

The electricity was discontinued after authorities discovered that the resident was bypassing the electrical box and siphoning power from nearby homes.

“The back door was open,” Edmond Police spokeswoman Jenny Monroe told News9. “They could see a venting system and all the wiring coming out of the back of the house.”

The plants, which are still being removed from the house, will be turned over to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics for destruction. Police said it didn’t look like anyone was living inside the house at the time, and added that they were trying to identify and locate the residents.