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Highlands Today

Suspects accused of owning busted grow houses arrested

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By BRAD DICKERSON

Highlands Today

Published: October 28, 2009

SEBRING - Investigations into marijuana grow houses discovered and dismantled in Highlands County in 2007 took one step forward when authorities announced the arrest of four Miami suspects alleged to be the owners of the homes.

This was the first tier of arrests, with more expected.

Detectives with the Highlands County Sheriff's Office and agents with Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Sebring field office have tried to serve warrants on 10 individuals for charges that include conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to traffic in marijuana, attempting to manufacture marijuana, mortgage fraud and grand theft, a press release stated.

Highlands detectives and FDLE agents from the Miami and Fort Myers Regional Operations Centers, which includes the local field office, went to Miami and arrested the four suspects, the release stated.

They are the following: Lesman Chavarria, 25, Yeleines Viera, 26, Maria Lurbe, 46, and Alexander Yanes, 27. All four were charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to traffic in marijuana.

All four were booked into the Miami-Dade Detention Facility. Chavarria, Viera and Lurbe each had a $100,000 bond. Yanes, who was additionally charged with attempting to manufacture marijuana, had his bond set at $150,000.

"Following the marijuana growing busts, we started looking backward to see how this many grow houses popped up all at once," said Highlands County Sheriff Susan Benton. "What we discovered was that through the use of mortgage fraud, these criminals had a means to organize and conspire to commit racketeering and trafficking of marijuana."
Highlands County Sheriff's Capt. Randy LaBelle, with the office's Special Investigations Unit, said in all the grow house busts, they were never able to get the actual homeowners. Those arrested on the scene claimed to be renting.
LaBelle said they "went at them from a different avenue" and the four Miami residents arrested Tuesday were, in fact, the homeowners.

"These mortgage frauds, they're paper trails," LaBelle said, adding that the suspects obtained the homes using fraudulent documents.

The investigation is in its early stages and more suspects are expected, according to the press release.

"We're going after the ones (who) facilitated this to begin with," LaBelle said.

Highlands Today reporter Brad Dickerson can be reached at (863) 386-5838 or bdickerson@highlandstoday.com

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