2,663 pot plants seized in bust, why did the growers go free AND keep 135 plants?

File photo



SEATTLE -- Police discovered an "unprecedented number of illegally grown marijuana plants" at two homes and a warehouse Tuesday evening. Seattle police said they did not arrest anyone because their goal was only to bring the operation back under the limits of the law.

Detectives say they got a search warrant after neighbors complained of an overwhelming marijuana smell in a Seattle neighborhood.

Seattle Police Narcotics Unit and Anti-Crime Team officers found more than 2,200 plants at a West Seattle warehouse in the 2600 block of SW Yancy Street -- far more than the 45 plants Washington state law allows at medical marijuana grows.

Officers found more than 200 plants at two different homes, one in the 2400 block of South Morgan Street and another in the 6500 block of 44th Avenue SW.

Investigators believe the owner of the grow operation was harvesting the marijuana and selling it through a dispensary he owns, which they say violates the state's regulations on collective gardens.

Police left growing equipment and 45 plants at each location. Growers were allowed to choose which plants they wanted to keep.

"Detectives were interested only in bringing the operation back under the limits of state law, and in addition to leaving plants and equipment at the scenes, also opted not to book anyone involved in the operation into jail," police wrote in a news release.