City Marshals uncovered a marijuana grow operation featuring 30 adult plants while serving an eviction at a Bronx apartment Monday morning, officials said.
The marshals found the illicit weed farm inside the vacant first-floor apartment located on Marion Ave. near E. 195th St. in Fordham around 10:20 a.m., cops said.
Neighbors told the Daily News they spotted officers hauling white bags out of the apartment.
“It was the smell, it was toxic,” said Evelyn Arredondo, 45, who lives next door to the ganja farm with her three children. “My throat, nose and eyes burned.”
Arredondo, whose children have asthma, said she saw as many as four men coming and going from the foul-smelling apartment.
“They hid their faces so you couldn’t see. They would wait until I left to come out,” Arredondo said. “I wondered what they were doing, but they would slam the door. They never spoke. They came and went, but fast.”
It is illegal to have more than 12 cannabis plants per household under New York State law.
The building’s super said rent at the apartment where the grow operation was discovered hadn’t been paid in more than six months.
The NYC Sheriff’s Office, which is handling the investigation, is conferring with FDNY, Con Edison and Department Buildings to determine if additional violations are warranted, according to a spokesperson.
“The Sheriff’s Office remains committed to protecting the safety and well-being of our communities by disrupting illicit operations that threaten public safety and health,” said NYC Sheriff Edwin Raymond.
There were no arrests.