For years, the Santiesteban family ran an elaborate marijuana growing operation — from planting seeds under hydroponic lights to harvesting the potent plants and hauling them to New York to sell — with at least 17 grow houses scattered across Miami-Dade, federal prosecutors said.

They set up surveillance cameras, hired caretakers to guard their crops, and when family members identified a robber who had ripped off 30 plants, they helped kidnap him, prosecutors said. The man was shot and beaten to death, his body dumped on a roadway, his van torched in the Everglades.

On Tuesday, law enforcement agents finally shut down the massive operation — charging six family members and 10 others with conspiracy to distribute drugs — ending one of the largest marijuana enterprises in Miami-Dade.

Five were charged in the kidnapping and slaying.

“This was a very well-organized criminal network that operated here for a very long time,” William Athas, an assistant U.S. attorney, said during a court appearance with eight of the defendants on Wednesday.

Prosecutors charged the operation was a family affair — Gilberto Santiesteban Sr., Alexander, Derrick, Darvis, Gilberto Jr., and Yadira — with members setting up a network of homes, hiring caretakers starting in 2004 to cultivate and package the marijuana, and then hauling it in rental cars to New York and New Jersey.

In addition to the Miami-Dade homes, there were two more residences used to grow pot, in St. Cloud, Fla., and Monticello, N.Y.

The going rate for a pound: $4,800.

Along with the Santiestebans, 10 others were charged, including caretakers, growers — even a man who cooked for the laborers.

One of the runners, Gilberto Jr., was nicknamed “Lucky 95,’’ because he managed to drive so many trips from Miami to New York on Interstate 95 without being caught while carrying hundreds of thousands in drug money.

During the trips, he rode with his wife and children to provide cover, prosecutors said.

“They operated under the radar for a long time,” Athas told U.S. Magistrate Edwin Torres with nearly two dozen relatives and friends of the defendants sitting in the back of the courtroom.

When two of the grow houses were raided by Miami-Dade police — with a dozen people nabbed — the operators simply shut down one and set up another, records state.

Miami-Dade police had a shot at cracking the enterprise eight years ago when they raided a home at 3200 SW 103rd Ct. after getting a tip, but they left empty handed. The reason: They missed a hidden room that was only accessible from the outside.

In 2008, Gilberto Santiesteban Jr., was returning from New York after delivering a load when he was stopped by Osceola County sheriff’s deputies for a traffic infraction. Inside the vehicle: $155,824 and four electric money counters.

Deputies returned the counters but seized the cash. Santiesteban, who was not charged, didn’t contest the forfeiture action.

After that, the runners began tucking the drug money inside spare tires to avoid getting caught.

While opening and shuttering grow houses, the enterprise is suspected of moving more than 1,000 plants. “They grew most of it here, but they sold it [primarily] in the New York area,” said Athas.

Most customers paid for the pot in cash, but in some cases, they were directed to deposit the money in specific bank accounts in New York and New Jersey. One account was labeled: “Grow-Tek, LLC.’’