Posted on12 August 2011.
By Kelci Parks
Nye County Sheriff’s deputies dismantled a large-scale marijuana cultivating operation after receiving an anonymous tip.
Pot plants with a potential street value of $5.7 million were confiscated from two homes after police served search warrants.
On Monday, police searched 2010 S. Manzanita Ave., discovering 160 pounds of unharvested marijuana.
That search led authorities to 2440 Turtle St., where detectives seized 1,726 plants and more than four grams of methamphetamine as well as a quantity of prescription medication. The homes are located near Pahrump Valley High School.
To avoid detection — and high electricity bills — the marijuana grower had spliced into electrical lines at the two homes, running the lines to the two homes by circumventing the electric meters.
After the drug seizures, police announced the arrest of Amos John Cavallo, 28, who had fled the Turtle Street home before police arrived. Cavallo was arrested at Best Western in Pahrump.
He faces charges of maintaining a place to sell/use/give away a controlled substance, trafficking marijuana, trafficking methamphetamine, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia for manufacturing of a controlled substance and theft of public utility. He was booked into the Nye County Detention Center and is being held in lieu of $55,000 bail.
Nye County Emergency Services assisted the sheriff’s office with hazmat clean-up at both homes and Valley Electric responded to both residences as well.
A neighbor said that Cavallo usually kept to himself and didn’t make much commotion.
“All I know is, at one time, there was about four or five cars that would go in and out,” he said. “But, it seemed like they were normal, you know. They pretty much kept to themselves. And this is the place to do it, you know, it’s really quiet around here,” said the neighbor as he glanced up and down the street of upscale homes.
Cavallo fled the scene at the Turtle address as detectives arrived.
He was later apprehended without incident.
- Special to the Pahrump Valley Times – Row upon row of marijuana plants were taken from two upscale homes in Pahrump after an anonymous tipster pointed officials in the right direction.
Wow where do they get there facts...at that price a pound would be worth about 35,000 bucks and you would wonder why everyone in this times don t have a green house in there yard yet , or why they will soon if this was to be true , but the facts are the Police just make s up theses numbers to look good in the press and give reason to there trillion dollar war on drugs and your bill of rights...The plant it self may way up to four pounds a plant but it's the flower that has all the medical value. In all the Medical books on cannabis after the plant is trimmed and dried the flower alone will lose about 80 to 90 percent of the weight and the "Flower It Self" can be as low as 10 percent of the whole plant.. With all that being said. A plant that weighs four pounds would only produce about four to six ounces of Medical Cannabis or the demonized word " Marijuana" because the police must count the weight of the dirt that's still in the roots to get that many pounds.... It sure is a great PR thing to lie about the facts too get our hard earned tax dollars to work to keep non-violent people in our prison system where they really learn how to become a violent person just to stay alive in the prison system...
