What mistake did you do to get caught?

Skullman420

Well-Known Member
I personally never got caught and I would love for it to stay this way. So as a grower I am wondering just as this headline indicates - What exactly did you do to get caught? What little fuck up fucked it all up for you? (or someone you know)

I'm thinking of this thread as a supplement to "Growing safety - Tips & tricks on how to avoid getting caught"
 
I'd have to guess that over 50% of the cannabis busts happened because of the grower's own big mouths. The vast majority of the other 50% would be stupidity. (So I guess that means almost 100% of the busts are because of stupidity ;) .) Maybe .00005% are due to "circumstances beyond the grower's control" like a water leak in an upstairs apartment that causes an emergency entry into YOUR apartment, tree falls on your roof in the Winter and 15,000 watts of light shines out the hole, etc. But mainly stupidity - opening the pie-hole, forgetting that other people exist in the universe and that more than a few of them have functioning noses, being both greedy and dumb and trying to steal electricity, wiring your grow room like a halfwit and getting busted by the firemen that put your house fire out, et cetera. I even read two or three reports a year of someone who decided to grow cannabis, then decided to beat the snot out of his spouse - these people are usually home and still drunk when the cops roll in to serve the emergency protection order, lol. And... While I'd much rather see such people dragged kicking and screaming out behind the jail where they are soundly thrashed, maybe have all the major bones in both arms broken and forced to walk around with their arms in casts, their jaw wired shut, and a big sign hanging from their neck stating "I beat up a woman and this is what happened. DON'T beat on women unless you want to spend the next two months begging her to wipe your @ss for you!" ... I must confess that I don't shed a tear when they end up getting arrested afterwards, even if it is for cannabis. The fact that we both enjoy cannabis does not make us brothers (and I'd put knots on my own brother's head for beating up his OL if he was the type of sub-human that did such things).

I won't say it's impossible to get busted if you have some common sense and choose to use it. But there are plenty of 60- and 70-year olds out there that have been doing this for decades who could tell you that it certainly makes it highly unlikely.
 
I have seen way too many stories over the years of people getting caught for stealing power

Biggest one I ever saw was at a bridge somewhere in Europe, in one of those big concrete castings. That space was HUGE, lol. IIRC, they were drawing water out of the river and stealing electricity from the mains. So... They were stealing everything but (possibly) the nutrients, the equipment, and the labor.

And then there was the "Great Tennessee Pot Cave" bust some years back. I do not recall what led to that bust. There are a couple of threads here at the forum for that one:
The Great Tennessee Pot Cave - Pics & Video
The Great Tennessee Pot Cave
 
I once almost got caught back in the day when I was still dealing. Had either a half pound or a pound, something like that in the trunk of my (then) fiancé's beat-up POS, broke down crossing a bridge, coasted into the next state... and got stuck in the intersection when a cop was approximately 50' away. I tried to push it. But it was an early '70s four-door boat, probably weighed 5,000 pounds, and there must not have been enough air in all four tires to properly inflate one of them. He ended up helping me get the car out of the intersection. He either didn't smell the cannabis, or figured I had enough to worry about with that car and about to get married (I'm guessing it was the latter, because I could certainly smell it).

So... If you find yourself needing to transport a weight of cannabis, make SURE your vehicle is up to the task. Or at least not one that (I later learned) was purchased for $50, lol.
 
I didn't move my plants for a week or two after I saw a helicopter all black no tail number flying solo to my house that it shook the floor
Just got raided this morning from Maryland state troopers. I am a medical patient so I can possess a little over four ounces in 36 grams of extract, but they still seized it all WTF Maryland Medical Marijuana Commission
 
I didn't move my plants for a week or two after I saw a helicopter all black no tail number flying solo to my house that it shook the floor
Just got raided this morning from Maryland state troopers. I am a medical patient so I can possess a little over four ounces in 36 grams of extract, but they still seized it all WTF Maryland Medical Marijuana Commission
Wtf
 
Sorry to hear that. Best wishes!

I didn't move my plants for a week or two after I saw a helicopter all black no tail number flying solo to my house that it shook the floor
Just got raided this morning from Maryland state troopers. I am a medical patient so I can possess a little over four ounces in 36 grams of extract, but they still seized it all WTF Maryland Medical Marijuana Commission
 
According to Maryland's Medical Marijuana laws, we're not allowed to grow any plants. We medical marijuana patients can possess it, but we can't grow it.

May I ask if you're in a city areas or rural? I'm in a rural area, and this year I tried growing for the first time. I wasn't greedy, I only grew two plants. Plus they were mixed in with other plants. I have a six foot high fence, and made sure they couldn't be seen by anyone near my fence.

The only thing I couldn't prevent was their tell tale sweet skunky odor.


Still the best way to not get caught is to never tell anyone that you're growing. I told no one, not even my family members knew. I think t h at s the key, don't tell a soul.
 
The only thing I couldn't prevent was their tell tale sweet skunky odor.

Try coming home one night and finding half your neighbors in your yard, lol. And one of them asks if you have a flashlight. "Because we're pretty sure we've got that skunk that's been spraying all over the neighborhood trapped under your front porch."

And THAT was the last time I grew a strain that had "skunk" in its name :icon_roll . Unfortunately, lots of them have skunk in their odor.

But many don't. There's pine, of course, but some folks recognize that, too. There are strains that smell "fuelly" (works if you have a generator handy, maybe?). All kinds of fruity. Old fashioned Church incense. Even cat p!ss - which probably goes more or less unnoticed if the person growing it is a real slob (and has cats, of course).

I've read over and over how Dark Devil Auto has a wonderful smell. I guess maybe I'll find out in a few weeks. But I did get the impression that it doesn't scream "DOPE!" to the sheeple. The only thing is, it's an auto-flowering strain - so you'd most likely need to grow more than two of them. But they stay relatively small, so they probably wouldn't stick out over your fence (and definitely wouldn't look like a 20' tall sativa, lol). And they flower without regard to the number of dark hours per day, so you could plant a couple every Saturday (as soon as it gets warm enough) for two, two and a half months or so... then harvest a couple every week until you've done all of them.

OR... You could do what millions of people do and get yourself a cheap light. From the "sound" of things, you don't require a great deal, so you wouldn't need to spend a great deal of money (either initially, for equipment, or monthly, in electricity). And - at least around here - a lot more people get busted for having plants outside than inside. Especially the small-time personal use types. Among other benefits, YOU get to set the lighting schedule. That may just seem like a convenience - but your climate isn't exactly tropical, lol. What if it turns out that the best strain (for YOU) just happens to be one that takes more flowering time than your location allows outdoors? Inside, that's not really a thing, because it never turns cold and rainy - or COLD and snowy.
 
Try coming home one night and finding half your neighbors in your yard, lol. And one of them asks if you have a flashlight. "Because we're pretty sure we've got that skunk that's been spraying all over the neighborhood trapped under your front porch."

And THAT was the last time I grew a strain that had "skunk" in its name :icon_roll . Unfortunately, lots of them have skunk in their odor.

Oh, that's funny.

Skunks are beginning their Fall migration in my area. Spotted the first roadkill of the season less than 2 miles from my home.

I only grew two plants this year. It's my first time and I was trying for a more medical grow. Both plants were of the strain Sweet Afghani Delicious, it's Fast Version.

This is their blurb:
" This non-autoflowering F1 hybrid of an elite clone of Black Domina and S.A.D. Sweet Afgani Delicious Auto has a shortened flowering time of 6-7 weeks. Beautiful giant colas are drowned in considerable amounts of sweet and sticky resin. The aromatic blend of S.A.D. is straight up prime: It’s generally very sweet, almost a little creamy but also musky, typical for old school Afghan varieties."

I let this plant over mature because I wanted more cannabinoids produced for medical reasons. Like I said, the sweet skunky smell was more skunky to me. Fortunately I don't have any visitors right now. I've been airing out my entire house and just installed a charcoal filter in my air handler. When the heat goes on tonight I'll be able to tell if it's gone.

When I was growing it the smell was strong. Some mornings when the air was still I could detect its odor twenty feet away. I have two m o re seeds f o r next year. But I think I want one with a more floral or pine scent. Skunk is too much and like what happened to you, I'm afraid my neighbors will ask if a skunk has been around.
 
Oh, that's funny.

Oh, yeah, it's funny... NOW.

Skunks are beginning their Fall migration in my area. Spotted the first roadkill of the season less than 2 miles from my home.

There's an old graveyard I pass when I'm out walking in the wee hours of the night/morning. A year or so ago, a cat brushed up against my ankle, so I reached down and petted it. Then I looked down. Oops, it wasn't a cat. We got to be cautious friends, lol. Someone ran over it last week. Or maybe it was a different one, but I haven't seen my friend all week.

I've had a soft spot for skunks ever since I was a kid and found out that when Mom's mother was seven, her mother abandoned her - and all she had was a skunk that she'd stumbled onto when it was (also) young and alone in the world. Stupid, I guess. Especially since I don't like the smell (be it from an animal or a plant).

I only grew two plants this year. It's my first time and I was trying for a more medical grow.

Being a first-timer who is growing primarily or solely for medical reasons has to be tough. You want to just grow one strain - and that's a sensible thing to do - so you can learn the basics, get to know your nutrients, how that strain feeds, et cetera. But, on the other hand, there are many, many strains. And that makes the odds kind of slim that your first strain will be the best one for YOU and your specific set of issues.

But I think I want one with a more floral or pine scent.

Maybe some kind of cross that has sativa in its genetic makeup, and that retains the fragrance of same? Not a "sativa dominant," I guess, because you're needing something that can take the place of the opoids. But some kind of fruity/floral hybrid.

Skunk is too much and like what happened to you, I'm afraid my neighbors will ask if a skunk has been around.

At this point in time, lol, I'm more worried that they won't be wondering if the smell is from an animal. People seem to be more aware of the "signs" these days - even though so many are still woefully unaware of the uses/benefits.
 
I work to a '0.005%' rule - if I have a doubt or concern, even that small, I don't do it ! I was living in a rental property and even though the Owner had to give 48hrs notice to visit, I wouldn't risk it. I now own my own place, but I have nieghbours who can see in my back garden, despite them being in their 60's, I wouldn't risk an outdoor grow. I decided on making a space in my garage. Its partitioned in two, I made a further space in the back of the garage, behind a screen of typical junk found in garages. I used an old matress and a hid my tent behind it. I will use a carbon filter when its time. Its hard to find a plant that doesn't smell. I think its more about hiding the signs of a grow as much as the smell. An odd smell could be many things, but add a giant odd plant into the mix, and most people are knowing what a cannabis leaf looks like. I have seen a garden grow hidden behind Japanese Mapel which looks very much like a cannabis plant, but a different colour.
 
I think its more about hiding the signs of a grow as much as the smell.

I found that out this week when I installed a brand new LED panel and... suddenly realized that it could be seen from outside. Wasn't a big deal when the light was white, but this is purple or pink. IOW, something obvious that'll give someone pause even if they don't automatically recognize it for what it is. Especially since that light is on a LONG and regular daily schedule :rolleyes3 .
 
I use LED's and noticed there was a small light leak, at night it looked like I was running a Nuclear Power Station I added a CFL which makes the light more white, but I also hid the light leak too, just in case !
 
I was pretty upset at myself for not planning for the intensely colored light. I figured, hey, if it's extra bright the neighbors will just think I'm wasting electricity, lol. Went outside in the middle of the night and probably woke a couple up saying, "Oh F*CK!"

I was supposed to start a journal a week ago tonight (Sunday). I think I'll have something figured out either this evening or Monday evening. So I guess it's not really that big of a deal, only mildly embarrassing that I missed my intended start date. However...

...it did illustrate the point that it doesn't hurt to actually plan things out ahead of time :icon_roll. The failure to do so has probably gotten "a few" folks in trouble. When you fail to adequately plan, you end up... not acting, but reacting.
 
I made sure to go and look in the garage window at night. The LED does put out a sort of disco type illunination ! It would have been hard to see, but you can't take anything forgranted. I also take the 'good nieghbour' approach. I always cut the old couple next doors grass, I watch their house when they goes and stay at their daughters place, we give them cakes when the kids bake. I was putting their bins back in one day and they have a big fridge magnet saying 'a friend with weed is a friend indeed' - I almost started howling with laughter ! It would be a big suprise if they had a grow going ! Last week I sitting watching TV and a Helicopter started swooping over the houses, it then went and landed on the field opposite and 3 men and a dog leapt out - I got a mild dose of fear ! They went in a totally different direction. I went straight into the garage and fashioned a 'heat shield' to make sure a FLIR wouldn't be able to see it.
 
Its hard to find a plant that doesn't smell.

I've worked in enough people's houses... half of them stink of something or other. Mostly "a little" (yeah, right) perfume/fragrance, some cat boxes or, worse, ferret p!ss. The dinner that was cooked last night. Et cetera.

I worry more about what it smells like than how strongly. I figure, sooner or later, I'll just barely notice a smell - because I'm around it constantly - that people walking past my home will get figuratively hit upside the head with. I don't like smelling cat urine, lol, that's why I spend money I can't afford on cat litter and cleaning supplies. But I suppose I could live with it. Fruit... Fruit is cool. Old-school "Church" incense? I love Gonesh #8 Perfumes of a Spring Mist (IIRC), and have since I first smelled it (probably in the late '70s). Nag Champa is okay. Stuff that smells like that... If a neighbor gets hit with it, maybe they'll just think I am one of those who uses too much air freshener / incense / etc., IDK.

I did just come across this link at one of our sponsors, Gorilla Seed Bank:
Fruity Strains | Get Mouth-Watering Seeds at Extra Low Prices Now

Might be useful.
 
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