INTERLACHEN, Fla. – The Putnam County Sheriff's Office made an arrest Monday in connection with a marijuana growing operation in Interlachen.
Vice detectives arrested Richard Iwanicki and he was charged with cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana in excess of twenty grams, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Iwanicki was booked into the Putnam County Jail and has since been released on a $3,512 bond.
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Officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission contacted the Sheriff's
Office after they discovered Iwanicki in the process of cultivating an outdoor marijuana grow
operation. Sheriff's detectives assumed the investigation and were assisted by the FWC Officers.
After a search warrant for the residence at 116 Bessie Lane was obtained, detectives found an elaborate hydroponic marijuana growing operation. Detectives confiscated 72 mature marijuana plants and processed marijuana with a street value of approximately $80,000.
Two truck loads of equipment used to cultivate marijuana, including lights and irrigation systems, were also seized by law enforcement officers. Investigators were able to determine that Iwanicki resides in St. Augustine and only used the Interlachen rental home as a location to house the illegal marijuana growing operation.
Iwanicki told detectives that he has no ties to Putnam County other than that he needed a rural location to conceal his growing operation.