PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Port St. Lucie police say someone dumped 19 trash bags filled with harvested marijuana plants in a neighborhood canal.
Now, investigators want to know who dumped the bags near SW Rosser Blvd. and SW Hextel Avenue.
Master Sergeant Frank Sabol says the discovery was first made by a neighbor riding her bike who saw the bags left in the canal, worried the material inside could be hazardous.
She called the city.
“One of the public works workers opened it up to see what was in there and he could smell this stench of marijuana,” Sabol said.
Police say it appeared the marijuana was grown in pots. None of the marijuana leaves were left behind, but detectives believe about 25 pounds of marijuana were grown from the material left in the bags.
Monday afternoon, crime scene investigators processed the scene, looking for fingerprints and DNA evidence that could link the bags to a grower, or potential grow house.
“That’s where we’re stuck right now is trying to figure out who placed these bags there and is there a grow operation in this neighborhood?” Sabol said.
Police do not know if the grower is local or from another city.
Neighbors worry because there are a lot of kids in the neighborhood.
Teens Myrvey Elien, 14, and Bin Luben, 15, say the discovery makes them nervous.
“Kids like me and him walk home and to-and-from the bus stop,” Elien said. “It makes you scared because you don’t know what's going to happen next.”
Luben says he worries about the people a potential grow house may attract to the neighborhood.
“Kids might get hurt. Families might get hurt…. I hope that they find the person and that he doesn’t live around here,” Luben said.
If you know anything about this case, call the Port St. Police Department at 772-871-5001 or Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-800-273-TIPS
