Two Miami-Dade County residents went from the grow house to the court house after police found a pot lab under a pool that has left them swimming in trouble.
Nearly 70 pounds of marijuana worth about $250,000 was seized when police raided an underground grow house operation in southwest Miami-Dade late Monday night, officials said.
Narcotics detectives executed a search warrant on the house at 21964 Southwest 125th Avenue just before midnight after receiving a tip, Miami-Dade Police said.
Once inside, detectives discovered a fully-operational clandestine marijuana lab which stretched the length of a backyard and was concealed underground inside the covered shell of a pool, police said.
Officials said they found a hole in the ground inside a backyard shed which led to the pool.
Some 20 pot plants, about 70 pounds worth, were seized.
Yeny Devarona, a neighbor near the home said, "We don't know how that could happen because its even hard to plant oplants here on top becuase it's very rocky, so you need tools to make holes in the ground.
"You'll see somebody bring a backhoe into their backyard, dig a large hole for a pool, but never install a pool. That is a telltale sign," Miami-Dade Police spokesman Roy Rutland said. "In this case, we're confident that somebody would have seen them dig that large hole for a pool but never in fact install a pool."
The couple, Yamile Gongar and Luis Gonzalez, appeared in court Tuesday afternoon. Bothface charges of trafficking. The judge was also shocked to hear the couple lived with two girls aged 8 and 17 at the home where the bust took place.
The couple's attorney, Erick Cruz, said, "Just because a person owns the house where there's marijuana growing does not meant that that person is in possession of marijuana."
Bond was set at $25,000 for both Gongar and Gonzalez.
Police said it's the second underground marijuana lab found in Miami-Dade in the past month.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
