For third time, marijuana operation in Placentia complex dogged by same dog

When it comes to sniffing out trouble, Scooby-Doo has nothing on Habo the German shepherd.

For the third time in less than two years, the police dog has sniffed out a marijuana growing operation at the same Placentia industrial complex.

The Placentia Police Department’s K9 unit dog alerted officers to the marijuana in the 700 block of Monroe Way. Officers had served a search warrant Monday morning and seized 600 live plants and 100 pounds of packaged marijuana valued at half a million dollars.

Placentia police Lt. Eric Point said Habo previously sniffed out marijuana in a suite of the complex in July and last year in April.

Two men were taken into custody in April in relation to the marijuana find.

“They obviously set up the operation again ... in the same unit. Obviously those two are related,” Point said of the April and July cases.

The newest crop was in the same complex, but in a different suite, Point said. It’s unknown if it is related to the previous two, he added.

At the latest grow, suspects tried to conceal the odor of marijuana by burning fragrance crystals in crock pots by the entrance, Point said. “Kind of like a potpourri,” he said.

The pot growers might have gotten away with it had it not been for police investigators and their dog.

Over the years, drug dealers have used everything from coffee grounds to substances used by pet owners to keep pets away from off and furniture in order to try to fool police dogs.

“A properly trained drug detection dog smells the odors of narcotics right through those things,” Point said. “None of it works.”

No arrests have been made after the latest find but the investigation is ongoing.

Twitter: @Brittny_Mejia

brittny.mejia@latimes.com