A buddy has had a somewhat significant indoor grow op in the past so here's some ways they could catch you, depending on how big you go:

• ELECTRICITY: Growing indoors requires electricity. There have been reports that LE monitors wattage use and if any house shows a significantly higher usage than those around it LE could flag you for further investigation.

• HEAT. The DEA does run some planes and scans an area with infrared. If your house shows an obvious hot spot then they could flag you for further investigation.

• SMELL. If you have 3 or more fruiting adult plants in your house, they start to smell really strong, really fast. This smell, if not handled properly, can leak out of your house and onto the streets. And before you know it, the entire area around your home smells like dank weed. Your neighbor reports you and BOOM your done.

• VISUAL INDICATORS NEIGHBORS CAN SEE: It shouldn't be obvious where your grow is if you are looking at the house. No obviously obstructed windows, no area of the house that is always blacked out vs other areas. I've had a neighbor who obviously grew and I knew this not only because he didn't have a job but had a nice car/place... but also because when it snowed, the upper left hand side of his place on the roof had NO SNOW on it even though every other roof in the area was 100% powder snow covered. Also, the upper left window was blacked out and had a huge fan blowing air TO THE OUTSIDE... IN THE WINTER. If you stood near that part of the home you could faintly smell weed... the fan was doing its job of dispersing the smell but still. Melted snow on the roof? Fan in the winter? Come on now.

A inside grow op can still be successful and there are documented ways to alleviate the above risks. If you have a really small op, it might be worth it. Small ops run significantly lower risks. Although, the above risks are still present.