Island police make $1.5 million marijuana bust

GALVESTON — A canine officer’s traffic stop led Galveston police to seize about 650 marijuana plants with a street value of $1.5 million, the largest find in recent memory, authorities said Tuesday.

The investigation began after officer Chris Sanderson stopped a car about 3 a.m. Monday morning on the outbound frontage road of Interstate 45 near 61st Street, interim police Chief Henry Porretto said.

“The dog alerted, and we seized a bunch of plants from the traffic stop,” Porretto said.

Based on that arrest, officers learned of several locations, and they discovered an indoor marijuana-growing operation in the 2300 block of 45th Street, Porretto said.

“It’s quite an elaborate system with lights, ventilation, a CO2 system, diffusers,” Porretto said.

Undercover narcotics officers with Galveston and an officer from the University of Texas Medical Branch spent early Tuesday evening clipping and sawing the plants and placing them into a pile for collection.

Some officers wore masks to help thwart the overwhelming smell of marijuana, which wafted into the alley with the door to the building open.

Porretto and medical branch police Chief Thomas E. Engells arranged a program for one of their officers to train with Galveston police, and Porretto assigned him to the narcotics unit. Porretto called it a detective-enrichment program.

“I don’t have enough people in the narcotics unit, and by doing that he gets the experience and we get the value of an investigator to help run leads,” Porretto said.

“It’s UTMB contributing to the community.”

Investigators were working Tuesday to identify anyone involved in the hydroponic marijuana-growing operation. No one was charged as of Tuesday night.