Marijuana grow house causes neighborhood power outage

DELTONA, Fla., March 18 (UPI) -- Police in Florida said a neighborhood power outage led to the discovery of a marijuana grow house illegally using extra power.

The Volusia County Sheriff's Office said technicians from the power company responded to a Deltona neighborhood Sunday when a few homes lost power and their suspicions were raised when they replaced a blown transformer fuse and the new fuse blew only moments after installation, WKMG-TV, Orlando, reported Tuesday.

The second blown fuse caused a small fire in a home's meter box and the technicians discovered extra wires were siphoning more power into the home.

Deputies said they discovered the extra power was being used to operate a marijuana grow house where Ramon Munoz-Rodriguez, 43, allegedly had 51 5-foot plants and 17 1-foot plants. Deputies said he attempted to dispose of the plants by throwing them over a fence when the sheriff's office investigated the home.

The sheriff's office said Munoz-Rodriguez was arrested on charges of possession of narcotics paraphernalia, possession of marijuana over 20 grams, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and manufacture of marijuana.