WHAT: Indoor marijuana grow house arrestWHEN: Tuesday, April 21, 2009
LOCATION: 2670 4th Ave. S.E., Golden Gate Estates
ARRESTED: Gabriel Cabrera, 43, 732 36th Ave. N.W., Miami
CHARGES: Cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana over 20 grams and possession of narcotic paraphernalia
SUMMARY: Deputies arrested Cabrera after a routine traffic stop turned up trash bags containing freshly packaged marijuana inside his vehicle.
Further investigation by deputies would later uncover more marijuana at a Golden Gate Estates residence where Cabrera was staying.
Sheriff’s reports gave this account:
Cabrera was driving a maroon GMC truck at DeSoto Boulevard and Oil Well Road around 9:30 a.m. when deputies stopped him for failing to stop at a stop sign and nearly causing a collision with other vehicles.
Cabrera was shaking and appeared unusually nervous while deputies issued him a written warning. There was also a strong odor of air freshener coming from inside the truck.
Deputies requested permission to search the truck and Cabrera consented. The search turned up two large trash bags containing five half-pound sealed bags of freshly packaged marijuana under a seat in the back of the truck.
The marijuana had an estimated street value of $20,000.
Cabrera had given deputies an east coast address, however, deputies discovered a local address on a vehicle repair notice inside the truck.
Further investigation led deputies with the sheriff’s Vice and Narcotics Bureau to obtain a search warrant for 2670 4th Ave. S.E.
Deputies executed the search warrant at the residence around 3:45 p.m. They discovered that the east side of the residence had been converted into two indoor marijuana grow rooms.
The rooms contained lights, transformers, two air-conditioning units and marijuana that had just been harvested. The electricity had been diverted.
The marijuana weighed 21.25 pounds and had an estimated street value of $63,000.
