SEATTLE - The DEA and hundreds of local police officers fanned out to locations across the Seattle area this morning in connection with a major indoor marijuana growing operation.

Twenty search warrants were issued for locations in King County.

In additions to homes, two garden supply companies and the office of a mortgage broker were searched by federal agents in connection with "Operation Green Reaper," a crackdown on suppliers and financiers of illegal indoor marijuana grows.

Raids target indoor pot growers in Seattle area

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At one Sammamish home, officers found 300 marijuana plants, along with growing supplies and equipment.

The owners of Greenhouse & Garden Supply of Tukwila and SciTek Garden Supply of Auburn have been indicted for Conspiracy to Manufacture Marijuana and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering. Two rings of of growers associated with Scitek have also been indicted.

According to court documents, Scitek Garden Supply was connected to grows of more than 14,500 plants, and more than $1.1 million in cash was laundered through the business.

Greenhouse & Garden Supply and its owner are alleged to have provided equipment, advice and trash disposal service to those setting up indoor marijuana grows.

"The cultivation of indoor grown marijuana poses a danger to everyone in our community," said DEA Special Agent in Charge Arnold R. Moorin. "These grows use toxic fertilizers and pesticides, have jury-rigged electrical wiring, and leave behind mold and contamination. These homes are a magnet for other crime - in the last year grow houses have been the scene of robberies and murders. "

Jet City Mortgage of Kent, as well as the home of the company owners, were also searched in connection with possible mortgage fraud related to the homes where marijuana grows have been discovered. Nineteen homes where grow operations were discovered were purchased through the business. No criminal charges have been filed in connection with any of the mortgage transactions.

"They live in nice houses, in nice areas, they could be your neighbors. They go in and they destroy these houses," said First Asst. US Attorney Mark Bartlett.

The DEA and local law enforcement began their investigation in January of 2007, using confidential informants.

The suspects reportedly have been bringing "BC bud" seeds into the U.S. from Canada, then growing the plants in the Seattle area.

All those arrested were to make their initial appearances in a Seattle courtroom Wednesday afternoon. Conspiracy to Manufacture marijuana is punishable by a mandatory minimum 10 years and up to life in prison and a $4 million fine. Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.