Five Southwest Florida residents were charged in relation to the trafficking and growth marijuana after police responded to a robbery call in northwest Cape Coral Monday morning, officials said. As a result of the investigation, police uncovered two marijuana grow houses in the Cape.
Police responded to a robbery report with shots fired at 1613 N.W. 31st Place at about 4:28 a.m., and discovered the home was a marijuana cultivation site, according to city spokesperson Connie Barron.
Gonzalo Paez, 38, of Cape Coral; Yoel Lorenzo, 32, Adenys Boneyes, 36, and Palo Sabon, 38, Naples residents, each were charged with trafficking marijuana over 25 pounds. Additionally, the owner of the home, Geovanny Manuel Rodriguez-Ortez, 31, was charged with trafficking marijuana over 25 pounds and cultivation of cannabis, according to Cape Coral police.
Before police arrived, Paez, Lorenzo, Boneyes and Sabon fled the scene in a mini van, which they later abandoned in a vacant field on Northwest 37th Place to elude officers in fields and nearby canals, according to reports.
Police reportedly discovered 30.3 pounds of marijuana and two bags of cocaine in the suspects’ vehicle, and later detained all four occupants.
Aside from various pieces of cultivation equipment, police discovered 23.4 pounds of cannabis and root systems in Ortez’s home, reports state.
Ortez reportedly admitted to using a second Cape Coral home to grow marijuana, located at 2106 N.E. 23rd Place, where police said they discovered 63.9 pounds of the drug.
Despite reports of shots fired during the alleged robbery, none of the suspects were harmed during the incident, Barron said.
K-9, Investigative Services, Patrol and Forensics units with the Cape Coral Police Department, along with a Lee County Sheriff’s Office helicopter, were used to apprehend the suspects.