Police Confiscate Elaborate Drug Setup
BY TONY GORDON
Daily Herald Legal Affairs Writer
March 7, 2001
Police seized more than 200 pounds of marijuana and a complex indoor growing system Monday evening during a raid on a home in Lindenhurst.
Mark Piccoli, deputy director of the Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group, said Lanny Adleman, 37, had 196 marijuana plants growing on all three levels of his home at 300 Robincrest Lane.
The plants were being cultivated in a hydroponic growing system — incorporating high-intensity lights, irrigation tubes and tubs — Piccoli said was worth several thousands of dollars.
"It was without a doubt the most sophisticated growing system I have seen and it was spread from the basement to the second floor of the house," Piccoli said.
Agents confiscated the plants, which weighed about 1 pound each, and another 11 pounds of grown marijuana, which was in the process of being dried. Piccoli said.
The product is believed to be as high-tech as the production. Piccoli said the strain of marijuana Adleman was growing is known as "California Bud "Cali Bud" or "Dank."
State police say the extremely potent strain is often sold for as much as $10 a gram at the retail level and can command a price of between $4,000
and $6,000 per pound wholesale, well above the customary price of between $1,200 and $1,600 for a pound.
Estimates of the street value of the drug range from between $948,000 and $1.2 million, police said.
Piccoli said Metropolitan Enforcement Group agents have been investigating reports of Adleman’s activities for several months and just recently developed enough information to secure a search warrant.
The warrant was served on the residence with the assistance of Lindenhurst police about 6:30 p.m. Monday, Piccoli said.
Adleman, who received probation after a 1983 conviction for drug possession, arrived at the residence while police were in the course of the search and was taken into custody without incident.
He appeared in court Tuesday morning before Associate Judge Joseph Waldeck, charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to deliver and marijuana cultivation.
Waldeck appointed the public defender’s office to represent Adleman. set his bond at $75,000 and ordered him to appear in court again March
27.
Assistant State’s Attorney Ken LaRue said Adleman faces a mandatory prison sentence of between six and 30 years if convicted of the charges against him.
Public Defender David Brodsky declined to comment on the case.
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