N.Y. police bust home marijuana 'jungle'

NEW YORK, March 3 (UPI) -- Two brothers in New York City have been arrested for allegedly growing a marijuana garden in a Staten Island home that police said "looked like a jungle."

Police who confiscated 375 pot plants alleged the operation of Keith Harrigan, 47, and his brother Craig, 49, took in $1 million a year, the New York Post reported Thursday.

"You almost got a contact high by just going into the house," a law enforcement source said. "It was like a heavy, earthy pot smell."

Police said one of the brothers' techniques for remaining undetected was avoiding electric bills for their grow lights, often a telltale sign of a drug operation.

Keith Harrigan allegedly modified the home's electrical system to bypass the Con Ed meter and stole more than $147,000 worth of electricity.

Cops raiding the home Monday said they were shocked at the amount of marijuana they found growing inside.

"It was a massive enterprise that you could never tell from the outside," one source said. "It looked like a jungle in there."

Police also arrested Craig Harrigan's 18-year-old son, Marc.

The three face a number of drug charges, and Keith is accused of grand larceny and theft of service for the electricity, a spokesman for the District Attorney's office said.