Deputies Bust Multi-million Dollar Indoor Pot Operation

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—- The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department has uncovered a mult-million dollar indoor pot operation which has been growing marijuana in a warehouse for three years.

Deputies raided the building at 911 41st Street North in Birmingham Thursday night after a two month investigation.

Sheriff Mike Hale says the operation produced pot worth four to six times as much as ordinary marijuana that the business was worth at least one million dollars a year.

Sheriff’s Department Agents tell NBC13HD that the marijuana being grown inside the warehouse produced 4 times as much T.H.C. which is the chemical that determines the drug’s strength.

They added that the potency of this marijuana could also produced hallucinations like L.S.D. in addition to the typical pot buzz.

The suspects used advanced lighting, irrigation and climate control technology to grow hundreds of pot plants inside four different rooms.

In addition to the 400-500 plants found in the warehouse, deputies have also confiscated other drugs and $100,000 in cash from two Birmingham condominiums.

The Sheriff’s Department has charged Daniel Rosser and Steven Sartino, both 37, with Trafficking Marijuana and both are being held on a $1 million bond.

The operation is considered to the largest indoor marijuana setup in Alabama history.

It was located right across the street from a church and the day care center it sponsors which could lead to sentencing enhancements if Sartino and Rosser are convicted.