Pounds of marijuana, hundreds of marijuana plants and pieces of a phosphorous grenade launcher were among the items allegedly tied to Greenlight Hydroponics in Montrose, authorities said.
Police allegedly received information in January that the store's employees could be involved in illegal activity, said Glendale Police Lt. Scott Bickle. This led authorities to search several locations tied to the store on Wednesday.
The search eventually led to the arrests of the business owner, a store manager and one of the store's workers.
Steve Nemenyi, 47, Glenn Poppler, 42, and Mark Mayer, 46, were arrested by police on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale following the drug bust that turned up a total of 32 pounds of pot.
The suspects were released about 3:50 a.m. Thursday morning after posting $100,000 bail, police told the Glendale News-Press.
Glendale's North Area Command officers worked with narcotics detectives to eventually Greenlight's Honolulu Avenue location, a warehouse in Van Nuys and the business owner's home. According to Bickle, the items found included:
- Approximately 2 pounds of marijuana was found at the Greenlight Hydroponics store in Montrose.
- The warehouse identified by the North Area Command officers contained a hydroponics marijuana grow with approximately 500 plants. The manager and owner were found and arrested at this location.
- A search warrant at the CEO/Owner of the Greenlight Hydroponics store’s residence resulted in the seizure of approximately 30 pounds of marijuana, approximately $50,000 in cash, two firearms and parts to a grenade launcher. (These figures are approximate). Bickle told Patch that the launcher was of the 37-millimeter variety designed to launch red phosphorous, used generally for signaling.
- A search warrant at the manager's residence resulted in a second hydroponics marijuana grow with approximately 200 plants.
"As you can see by the result of the search warrants, those involved in the sales of marijuana keep themselves armed to protect their grows and product. While the Hydroponics Store sells items that are legal in the State of California, what these products are used for is the growth of marijuana," Bickle said.
"You generally do not see customers going in the store to obtain items to grow tomatoes. This is just one reason the City of Glendale does not allow marijuana dispensaries to operate in Glendale," Bickle said.
Bickle also told Patch that the three men were arrested without incident.
