Mendez
Seijas
A husband and wife were arrested Monday afternoon after deputies found 16 marijuana plants in their Loxahatchee home, and the couple’s teen sleeping next to the grow room, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said.
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Aramis Mendez, 45, was charged with marijuana producing, trafficking more than 25 pounds and growing marijuana with a minor present. Yohordana Seijas, 41 was charged with trafficking more than 25 pounds of marijuana, possession with intent to sell and growing marijuana with a minor present.
They are each being held on $20,000 bail at the county jail as of Wednesday morning.
A source told the deputies that the Loxahatchee home, along Orange Grove Boulevard west of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road, showed signs consistent with a marijuana grow house, according to a probable-cause affidavit made public Tuesday. Tall brush surrounded the house, the front gate was locked, electrical boxes were tampered with, water pumps were constantly running and a strong smell of marijuana was present outside of the home, the informant told deputies.
Deputies monitored the home and watched as Seijas drove away. They pulled her over after she failed to stop at Cheetham Hill Boulevard, and they could smell marijuana permeating from her car, the report said. Seijas told the deputies that she knew growing marijuana was illegal and that there were plants in her home.
Deputies obtained a warrant and searched they home, where Mendez was sleeping. They found two vacuum sealed bags with a combined 5 pounds of marijuana, a garbage bag with 4.8 pounds of processed cannabis and 16 5-foot-tall plants that weighed about 100 pounds each, without roots. The room next to the grow room was a bedroom, where a 15-year-old slept.
Mendez admitted to deputies that he was the one growing the plants.
Neither Mendez or Seijas have any previous felony charges, according to Palm Beach County court records.
