Tom Langland lives directly across the street from the indoor marijuana farm raided Wednesday morning by Edmonds police and drug enforcement agents. He’s been concerned about activity at the house ever since the current occupants moved in to the rental home this past July.

“When they moved in they brought three large U-Haul vans, and everything that came out of them went directly into the basement. I’m guessing that was their grow equipment, because it wasn’t long after that we started noticing a persistent pungent odor coming from the house,” he said.

That was when he and other neighbors began to get suspicious.

According to Langland, it did not appear that the residents even lived at the house at first, but after the Aug. 29 windstorm and power outages “there seemed to be someone there most of the time.”

Langland kept track of comings and goings at the house, and maintained a list of vehicles stopping there. “Every couple of months there would be about a three-day flurry of activity, where I’d see maybe 10 or 12 vehicles per day at the house,” he said. “I assume this was when they were harvesting and moving their product.”

Beginning in August he made several reports to local police and drug enforcement officials, but none resulted in direct action.

“Of course I wanted that place out of there right away, but I understand that the police need to do it right, conduct a through investigation and that it takes time,” he said.

Langland was watching from his home Wednesday morning when the trap was sprung and police and drug enforcement officers converged on the house, removing 368 plants from the residence.

“They took a lot of plants out, all stuffed in burlap bags,” he said. “Also about 60 light fixtures and other electrical equipment.”

While he’s relieved that his neighborhood will no longer be home to a marijuana farm, he’s concerned that this may be the tip of a larger iceberg. “It’s clear to me that these growers knew what they were doing, and I think it’s a good bet that they have other operations around here,” he observed.

— Story and photo by Larry Vogel