Jacksonville man busted for elaborate marijuana cultivation in 3 bedrooms

Forty-eight marijuana plants in one bedroom, 48 more in another and three lonely plants in a third. That’s what the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s uncovered Monday in a home on the 2900 block of South St. Johns Bluff Road.

The narcotics team also found about 5 pounds of processed weed in a freezer during the raid. The next day detectives arrested 32-year-old David Franqui on a charge of cultivating it, police said.

Detectives served a search warrant on the home at 4 p.m. Monday and found three bedrooms filled with a total 99 plants, plus 5.6 pounds of processed marijuana packaged in plastic bags in a freezer. They also found a JEA bill with the name of the suspect.

The next morning, detectives saw the man exit his home in the 14000 block of Mount Pleasant Road and get in a Chevrolet Blazer. He was stopped and arrested a few blocks later. In the Blazer were receipts for some of the growing equipment found in the St. Johns Bluff Road home, police said.