I SMOKE DANK

25,000-Pound Marijuana Seizure is County's Largest Ever

2009-08-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

TEMECULA - A federal drug charge was filed today against a trucker who allegedly had 14-plus tons of marijuana with a street value of about $25 million in his rig when he was pulled over for a traffic violation on Interstate 15.

Angel Guillen-Raya, who was taken into custody on Wednesday, was due in a federal courtroom in Riverside this afternoon on one count of drug possession with intent to distribute.

The suspect allegedly told authorities he had transported a truckful of marijuana to Ontario earlier in the week, and the confiscated shipment was also bound for that San Bernardino County city.

A sheriff's patrol deputy pulled the driver over about 9 a.m. Wednesday on northbound I-15, just past the Rainbow Canyon Road exit south of Temecula.

According to U.S. Forest Service Special Agent Patrick Brown, who works with the Drug Enforcement Administration, the driver had been following another big rig too closely.

"As Deputy (Glen) Warrington was driving up alongside the subject vehicle, the subject vehicle changed lanes and almost collided with Deputy Warrington's vehicle," Brown wrote in an affidavit.

The deputy stopped the driver for making an illegal lane change and asked him for paperwork, which he could not provide, Brown said.

As the deputy spoke with Guillen-Raya, another deputy with a dog pulled up and the canine alerted them to the presence of drugs, according to the agent.

A search of the truck revealed numerous boxes filled with plastic-wrapped bricks of a green leafy substance that turned out to be marijuana, Brown said.

The boxes were lined up on pallets and, according to Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez, the contraband was "stacked from front to back -- solid."

Gutierrez said it was the largest confiscation of marijuana in the history of the Riverside County Sheriff Department.

He said the cannabis is estimated to have a wholesale value of more than $10 million and a street value of about $25 million.

Police discover home filled with 150 marijuana plants

2009-08-26T04:09:00.000-07:00

Vallejo police officers responding Tuesday to a reported home invasion stumbled instead upon an alleged drug house filled with about 150 marijuana plants.
No one was found in the home in the 400 block of Diana Drive after officers entered the residence for a welfare check around 11:30 a.m., Police Lt. Abel Tenorio said.

Nor were there were signs of forced entry around a window in the back of the house, Tenorio said.

A passerby called 911 just before 10 a.m. and said three black males with weapons were trying to force their way into the home from the backyard, Tenorio said.

Officers responded within three minutes and staked the residence out, with the department's black "Peacekeeper" tank providing cover.

But after numerous unanswered phone calls to the residence, police forcibly entered it. Neighbors said a Hispanic family lived there, Tenorio said.

Officers thought there might be hostages in the home, he said.

There was little furniture inside but plenty of marijuana plants, indicating the location may be just a drug house, Tenorio said.

Narcotics officers responded and were obtaining a search warrant, Tenorio said, though he did not know if they had gotten the warrant by mid-afternoon.

Lt. Jim O'Connell said people should keep an eye out for boarded up homes where people are coming in and out at odd hours -- possible signs that the residence is a drug house.

No one was arrested and police so far do not have any suspects.

Troopers find 138 pounds of marijuana

2009-08-25T06:28:00.000-07:00

HAMILTON COUNTY — Two separate traffic stops over the weekend in Hamilton County led to the seizure of 138 pounds of marijuana and the arrests of four individuals.

Shortly after 1 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 22, a trooper with the Nebraska State Patrol stopped a Volvo S8, eastbound on Interstate 80 near the Giltner interchange. An NSP canine alerted to the odor of drugs coming from the rear of the vehicle. A probable cause search led to the seizure of 133 pounds of marijuana, which was located in duffel bags in the trunk of the vehicle.

The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle, 33-year-old Jamie Day, of Astoria, N.Y., was lodged in the Hamilton County Jail on a charge of possession with the intent to deliver, a Class 3 felony.

A traffic stop near the same location at 2 p.m., on Friday, Aug. 21, resulted in the seizure of five pounds of marijuana and the arrest of the vehicle’s three occupants. The trooper stopped an eastbound 2007 Mitsubishi Montero for an inoperable taillight. A probable cause search of the vehicle led to seizure of the marijuana.

The marijuana, packaged in 13 individual bags, was located in the rear of the vehicle. A .40 caliber semi automatic handgun was also located in a backpack.

The driver of the vehicle, 22-year-old Nicholas Smith of Mariposa, Calif., and two passengers in the vehicle, 26-year-old Kristopher Vernard, of Gladstone, Mo., and 27-year-old Eric Varvel, of Kansas City, Mo., were lodged in the Hamilton County Jail, each on charges of possession with the intent to deliver and possession of a weapon during a drug transaction. Varvel was also jailed on a charge of carrying a concealed weapon.

Strong odor in car leads to marijuana bricks, arrest

2009-08-25T06:26:00.000-07:00

An Indiana man found sleeping in his car was taken into custody Monday after a Yavapai County Sheriff's deputy smelled a strong odor of marijuana and eventually found nearly a dozen bricks of the drug inside the vehicle, authorities said.

William Wilkinson, 54, told authorities he stopped to rest on his way back to Indiana from Phoenix, according to the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office. The vehicle was found off the roadway at the Coldwater Road on-ramp to the Interstate 17 on Thursday.

When asked about the odor, Wilkinson apparently said that his brother, whom he had been visiting, "had smoked a joint" in the car earlier that day, according to a sheriff's department press release. When the deputy said the odor was particularly strong, Wilkinson said that his brother had smoked "two joints."

Fire leads to marijuana grow-op

2009-08-25T06:25:00.000-07:00

Barrie police accidentally uncovered a marijuana grow operation after city firefighters were called to the neighbouring home, early Sunday morning.

The fire call came in around 12:30 a. m. for a blaze at 49 Athabaska Rd., near Mapleview Drive West and Essa Road. The blaze severely damaged that home, but also burned the exterior of the residence on the east side.

Firefighters arrived to find the occupants of 49 Athabaska Rd., as well as the family dog, had exited the home safely.

First and foremost, a fire department's duty is to protect life and property, Barrie police Sgt. Robert Allan said.

"Before they leave a scene, they have to check to make sure that any risk is gone," Allan said, which is why they entered 51 Athabaska Rd., too.

Firefighters allegedly found a marijuana grow operation in the basement.

The fire department informed police of their discovery and a search warrant was executed Sunday afternoon. Officers found 80 marijuana plants, worth an estimated $80,000.

"We take it anyway we can get it," Allan said of the chance discovery. "Eighty plants is a good seizure for your run-of-the-mill, average home. It's definitely not personal use, which we do see sometimes."

Allan said people must know the dangers of residential growops.

"There's also a risk to the community," he said. "A lot of these (grow-op) houses are fly-bynighters that are often improperly wired or booby-trapped."

The police investigation continues and charges are pending.

18 Marijuana Grow-Ops Linked To Toronto Store

2009-08-18T05:14:00.001-07:00

Police have dismantled 18 marijuana growing operations they claim were connected to one Toronto store.
Authorities arrested three people in connection to the web of grow-ops and seized about 8,000 pot plants worth an estimated $8 million. There were 18 illegal drug growing outfits in total which investigators allege were all connected to a Toronto business that sold equipment needed to cultivate marijuana indoors.
An anonymous tipster told York Regional Police about the grow-ops and the business allegedly connected to all of the illegal outfits - a store called Tropical Distribution at 135 Ormont Rd. The investigation started back in May of 2006.
Police claim the owners of the store were facilitating the people running the grow-ops.
Search warrants were executed at the 18 drug-growing outfits littered across the GTA and last Thursday police also searched Tropical Distribution and a home in Newmarket and arrested three people.
Van Duong LE, 41, of Newmarket, Tu Cam LAM, 29, of Newmarket, and Dai Tho LE, 28, of Mississauga are all facing several charges. They're scheduled to appear in a Newmarket court on May 1.

18 Marijuana Grow-Ops Linked To Toronto Store

2009-08-18T05:14:00.000-07:00

Marijuana seized by deputies

2009-08-18T05:13:00.001-07:00

Houston County Sheriff’s investigators seized one and half pounds of marijuana and a couple of thousand dollars in cash on Monday after an attempted traffic stop led to a brief chase.

Capt. Antonio Gonzalez said deputies seized the drugs after three men led law enforcement on a short vehicle chase through Dothan around 4 p.m. He said the men traveling in a black Infiniti fled during an attempted traffic stop near Westgate Parkway and Denton Road. Gonzalez said the three men traveling in the car jumped out and ran near the intersection of Denton Road and Oakdale Circle.

Deputies arrested two of the three men, including Darion Covington, 27, of Smyrna, Ga., and Justin Johnson, 27, of Dothan. Gonzalez said all three men face a felony first-degree possession of marijuana charge and possibly other charges.

Deputies seized one and a half pounds of marijuana and at least $2,000 in cash as part of the two-month investigation.

Anyone with information about the third person last seen in the neighborhood of Denton Road and Oakdale Circle can call the Houston County Sheriff’s Office at 677-4888.

Traffic stop leads authorities to six pounds of marijuana

2009-08-18T05:11:00.000-07:00

Authorities say a pound of marijuana was found inside Andrew Kugler's car when he ran a red light and an additional five pounds were found in his College Park home, the same house where police discovered 50 pounds of pot two years ago.
The 33-year-old College Park man was pulled over Aug. 3 after blowing through a red light to turn right from University Boulevard onto Metzerott Road, a few blocks from the University of Maryland on a route Kugler might travel to his home at 9130 Bridgewater St., court records show. Attorney information for Kugler was not listed in court records. Kugler was on probation for the two-year-old arrest when he was pulled over.
In 2007, Kugler nearly lost the house after a police raid discovered 50 pounds of marijuana in the basement and $177,215 in cash secreted throughout the house, court documents filed in Maryland's federal court said. The drug was held inside 84 mason jars labeled with "different flavors such as blueberry, big red, $four-hundred$, haze, silver, blue, strawberry, grape and numerous other flavors," documents said. At the time, Kugler reportedly told officials he had been selling marijuana since he was 12 years old.
In January 2008, Kugler pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute, was sentenced to six months behind bars and then released on three years' probation, Maryland court records show. Simultaneously, federal authorities filed a lawsuit demanding that the house be forfeited to the U.S. government, but in a March 2008 agreement authorities accepted $25,000 in lieu of the property.
According to court documents, the University of Maryland police officer who pulled him over could smell marijuana in the car. The officer asked Kugler whether he had marijuana, and Kugler handed over a small plastic bag with a substance suspected to be pot inside. A subsequent search of his gold Subaru revealed a large plastic bag containing a little more than one pound of the drug. Federal agents who searched his Bridgewater Street house later that day found more than five pounds of pot and $30,000 in the basement.
Kugler has once again been charged with possession with intent to distribute, and federal authorities have once again filed a lawsuit demanding his house be forfeited.

2 Honolulu police officers arrested on marijuana possession charges after chase in Las Vegas

2009-08-18T05:07:00.000-07:00

LAS VEGAS — Two Honolulu law enforcers in Las Vegas to play in a softball tournament for police and firefighters were arrested on marijuana charges after leading authorities on a short chase.
Clark County spokeswoman Stacey Welling said officers Kevin Fujioka, 37, and Shayne Souza, 47, were arrested Saturday night near Desert Breeze Park, about six miles west of the Las Vegas Strip.
Scott Wilson, a 38-year-old social worker from Honolulu, also was arrested, Welling said Monday.
Park police approached the men in a white van because it was parked sideways across two spots in the parking lot, Welling said. As officers approached, the van drove off.
After a short pursuit, Souza and Fujioka got out of the van and ran from police, authorities said. Welling said officers pepper-sprayed Souza when he resisted arrest.
All three men were charged with marijuana possession, Welling said. Fujioka also was charged with driving under the influence of a narcotic, and Souza was charged with drug paraphernalia possession, resisting a police officer and obstruction of justice. Wilson was charged with having an open alcohol container in a vehicle, Welling said.
Michelle Yu, spokeswoman for the Honolulu Police Department, confirmed that the agency has two officers with the same names as Fujioka and Souza, but she said the department had not heard about the arrests and could not immediately comment.
Yu said Fujioka is a patrol officer who has worked at the department 13 years, while Souza is a SWAT officer who has been with the department 20 years.
Welling said the men identified themselves as police officers from the Hawaii city.
Tom Wagner, president of the Nevada Police Athletic Federation, said the arrests happened during a men's softball tournament that was part of the 2009 Nevada Police & Fire Games. The five-day event of various sports and games involves about 2,000 police and firefighters from across the country, Wagner said.
He called the arrests "shocking" and said it's possible that the players and their team would not be invited to return to the games.
"It's unfortunate but we definitely are going to be speaking to that coach and that police department and getting the story and deciding what our action will be as a federation," Wagner said.

Police seize 50 pounds of marijuana, arrest two New London men

2009-08-12T14:10:00.000-07:00

Waterford,Conn Police seized two cars and arrested two New London men who police said tried to accept delivery Tuesday of a package containing 50 pounds of marijuana.

During the course of a joint narcotics investigation, Waterford police and members of the state police Statewide Narcotics Task Force intercepted a package containing marijuana addressed to a location in the Waterford area. Police delivered the package to the address on Tuesday and arrested New London residents Joel E. Donahue, 34, of 17 Town Hill Road, and Joseph V. Guerin, 26, of 31 Cutler St.

Donahue was charged with possession of marijuana, conspiracy to possess marijuana and third-degree burglary. Police charged Guerin with possession of marijuana, conspiracy to possess marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to sell. Police seized a Chrysler Concorde and a Cadillac DeVille.

Both were held on $50,000 bonds and scheduled for arraignment Aug. 25 in New London Superior Court.

Police said an additional arrest is expected in the case.

Cops say Hicksville man grew marijuana in basement

2009-08-11T18:39:00.001-07:00

Police went to a Hicksville home Sunday to arrest a man on a failure to appear in court ticket.

Instead, police said, the man ended up being arrested on two drug charges - after the officers smelled marijuana coming from inside the home and later found "what appeared to be a growing room" in the basement of the house.

Nassau County police said Brandon Schneider was arrested at the home on York Street at 6:10 p.m. Sunday. He was charged with second-degree and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance - and police said marijuana recovered from his room will be presented to a grand jury at a later date.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in First District Court in Hempstead.

Police said officers were sent to the home looking for Schneider, who they said was wanted for failure to appear in court on an assault charge.

Once at the home, police said the officers "smelled the odor of marijuana emanating from the house." Police said the officers asked where Schneider was and were told the basement. They then entered the basement, police said, and found the growing room.

200 Pound Marijuana Seizure Nets 3 Arrests

2009-08-11T18:36:00.000-07:00

JACKSON, Miss. -- Three people were arrested Tuesday in connection with the seizure of more than 200 pounds of marijuana.
The Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics-led Jackson Enforcement Team arrested Lee E. Brooks Jr., 32, and Stephanie Weathersby, 29, both of Jackson along with Charles Wilson, 61, of Bellwood, Ill., at Brooks' 1737 Brecon Drive residence.
Brooks has been charged with possession of more than 100 kilograms of marijuana, conspiracy to possess more than 100 kilograms of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of ecstasy. He has also been charged with child endangerment because the alleged offenses occurred in the presence of a minor.
MBN Director Marshall Fisher said Brooks was also in possession of a firearm and could face stiffer penalties if convicted. Agents charged Weathersby with possession of more than 30 grams of marijuana and Wilson with conspiracy to possess more than 100 kilograms of marijuana with intent to distribute.
Fisher estimates the street value of the marijuana at $250,000.
MBN agents also seized approximately $7,000 in cash, a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun and a bullet-resistant vest.
In addition to the JET, the Oklahoma State Police and the Jackson High-Intensity Drug-Trafficking Area task force participated in the investigation.

Deputies arrest man after finding 2.5+ pounds of marijuana

2009-08-10T13:55:00.000-07:00

A 25-year-old Evansville man is due in court today after deputies found more than 2.5 pounds of marijuana in his apartment, according to a Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office probable cause affidavit.

Kenneth D. Tidwell is facing preliminary charges of dealing marijuana, maintaining a common nuisance and possessing paraphernalia. He was booked in the Vanderburgh County Jail without bond pending the initial court appearance.

Authorities went to 7022 Arla Jane Drive about 11:15 p.m. Sunday to investigate a complaint of narcotics use and sale at Tidwell's residence.

According to the affidavit, he allowed deputies in to perform a search. Authorities then found multiple digital scales with marijuana residue, marijuana pipes, a pill grinder, a handgun, 10 cell phones and 1162.2 grams of marijuana in various places inside, according to the affidavit.

Boulder jury finds medical-marijuana patient not guilty of holding too much pot

2009-08-09T04:36:00.000-07:00

A Louisville man who was accused of possessing an illegal amount of medical marijuana when his home was raided last year was acquitted on all charges Thursday afternoon.

A jury of eight men and four women found Jason Lauve, 38, not guilty of a felony drug possession charge, and not guilty of two lesser marijuana possession charges.

They deliberated for a little more than three hours.

Lauve was charged with possessing 17 times the permitted amount of marijuana that the state allows for medical purposes -- which is set at two ounces and no more than six plants. Police said they found more than 30 pot plants and more than two pounds of marijuana during a raid of his Louisville home in June 2008.

Lauve, who has had a state-issued medical marijuana ID card for several years, suffered severe injuries to his back after being struck by a snowboarder at Eldora Ski Resort in 2004 and has smoked pot three times a day and ingested it once a day to ease his pain.

He argued the constitutional amendment voters approved nine years ago contains a provision that allows patients to ultimately decide the amount of marijuana that gives them relief from a debilitating condition.

74 pounds of marijuana found in car in stop

2009-08-09T04:29:00.000-07:00

A Michigan woman was released from jail on bond Thursday after a traffic stop on Interstate 40 yielded 74 pounds of marijuana, according to the state Department of Public Safety.
Casanda Dacre Booker, 36, of Farmington Hills, Mich., was arrested Wednesday afternoon near McLean after DPS troopers stopped her for failing to signal a lane change on the highway. Authorities searched the car after a drug dog signaled the presence of a controlled substance.

Booker was charged with possession of marijuana more than 50 pounds but less than 2,000 pounds, and taken to the Gray County Jail, where she posted a $20,000 bond.

Authorities said she was traveling from Phoenix to Indianapolis. The marijuana was stored in the car's trunk and rear seat, according to DPS.

Expo in Detroit to highlight medical-marijuana biz

2009-08-09T04:26:00.000-07:00

DETROIT (AP) - A Detroit exhibition is looking to highlight the economic potential of medical marijuana.

What's billed as the first annual Michigan Medical Marijuana Expo begins Saturday and runs through Sunday.

Dozens of speakers will talk about jobs and other opportunities in the field of medical marijuana, Michigan's law and other topics.

Growing and hydroponics equipment will be displayed and sold.

Organizers say no marijuana will be bought or sold at the event, though registered patients will be able to use the drug in a guarded, enclosed space at the expo.

Michigan voters legalized medical marijuana last year for patients suffering from ailments such as cancer and multiple sclerosis. A doctor's recommendation is required to obtain a registry card from the state.

FedEx marijuana shipment intercepted

2009-08-07T12:57:00.001-07:00

McIntosh, Ala. (AP) - Authorities say they intercepted a package of marijuana being shipped to an address in Washington County, and a man who thought he was receiving the shipment is being held on $1 million bail.

Washington County Sheriff Richard Stringer says authorities were tipped off last week when a package arrived in Ohio with what was believed to be more than 2 pounds of marijuana.

Stringer says 27-year-old Terry Jerome Johnson Jr. had the package delivered to a phony name at his parents' home.

The sheriff says FedEx delivered the package to authorities and a decoy truck and an officer dressed as a delivery driver brought the package to McIntosh on July 30.

Stringer says after Johnson claimed the package, he was arrested and charged with drug trafficking.

Two children removed from house containing 195 marijuana plants

2009-08-07T12:53:00.001-07:00

BERRIEN COUNTY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – Two children, aged four and five, have been turned over to family members after police discovered 195 marijuana plants growing in the home where they lived.

The Berrien County Sheriff's Office says their narcotics unit, along with other area police agencies, executed a search warrant for illegal narcotics in the 3000 block of Lincoln Avenue in St. Joseph Township on Friday. The search warrant came after a three month investigation into illegal narcotic activity at the residence.

At the time of the search warrant, officers located Ronald Wolnik, Elizabeth Klank, two children and five dogs inside the residence.

During a search, officers say they located and seized 195 live marijuana plants in various stages of growth as well as a large quantity of processed marijuana and other evidence of narcotic traffic.

Officials say Wolnik was currently on probation for a previous conviction for assault and battery. He was lodged at the Berrien County Jail on charges of manufacture of marijuana within 500 feet of a school, maintaining a drug house, and two counts of child endangerment.

Officials say Klank was currently out on bond on an embezzlement charge. She was also lodged at the Berrien County Jail on charges of manufacture of marijuana within 500 feet of a school, maintaining a drug house, and two counts of child endangerment.

The two children were turned over to the custody of family members.

Marijuana operation found inside burning house

2009-08-07T12:51:00.000-07:00

Firefighters found a marijuana-growing operation inside a house that caught fire this morning in Palm Bay.

An "electrical overload due to tampering" sparked the blaze, meaning the official cause is arson, officials said in a statement.

Firefighters responded at about 7 a.m. after neighbors called in reports about smoke and flames coming from the roof of the home 1370 Seabold Road SW.

Firefighters contained the fire to the attic and rear of the house. They discovered a growing operation while ensuring the house had been evacuated, officials said in statement.

Officials said no one was home at the time.

"Police personnel also responded to conduct further investigation,'' the statement said. "The home is valued at approximately $250,000 with damages due to fire estimated at approximately $150,000."

Trooper Stops To Help Driver, Finds Marijuana

2009-08-07T12:50:00.001-07:00

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. -- A driver was caught with 27 pounds of marijuana in his BMW Thursday night when the car broke down on Interstate 80.
A trooper stopped to help the driver on the interstate two miles west of Grand Island. But a state patrol K9 changed the trooper's motivation when it detected the drug's odor. The driver was arrested when the marijuana was found in the trunk.
Benjamin Winkfield, 29, of Illinois, was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

Bradley County Detectives Seize Six Pounds Of Marijuana

2009-08-06T15:33:00.002-07:00

Bradley County Sheriff’s detectives arrested two Kentucky men during a routine investigation that netted approximately six pounds of marijuana.

A vehicle was stopped Wednesday afternoon on I-75 in northern Bradley County that was following close behind another vehicle. Inside the car, detectives found a plastic bag containing six bricks of marijuana.

They charged the driver, 42-year-old Eugene Hopkins of Corbin with possession of marijuana for resale, following too close and driving on a suspended license. They also charged the passenger, 24-year-old Jonathan Eugene Blevins of Williamsburg, with possession of marijuana for resale.

Both men were taken to the Bradley County jail where they were held without bond pending arraignment by a General Sessions Court judge.

Marijuana bust called largest in FF history

2009-08-06T15:33:00.001-07:00

The seizure of more than 500 marijuana plants from a Fergus Falls residence in late July is being called the largest bust in the city’s history.

A massive grow operation was found in a house along Church Street July 24 after Fergus Falls police and agents with the West Central Minnesota Drug Task Force executed a search warrant at the property. According to police, employees with Otter Tail Power Company were attempting to locate the source of several power outages in the area when they discovered a homemade electric cable running from the transformer to the house.

Inside the home, authorities found 512 marijuana plants in various stages of maturity, said police Capt. Steve Adams. The largest congregation of plants was in the basement, though others were located on the first and second floors, where most of the windows were covered by blinds. Authorities also found equipment including lights, fertilizer, reflectors and fans.

“To my knowledge, this is the largest grow operation we’ve ever seen in the city of Fergus Falls,” Adams said.

Special agent Mark Haberer, who has spent nine years with the drug task force and the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office, called the find a “substantial amount.”

“With 512 plants, this is the largest marijuana grow operation I have ever been involved in,” he said.

Authorities are looking for the home’s 35-year-old male tenant, as well as three to four others who may have been involved in the operation. The 35-year-old is wanted on an outstanding warrant on a separate criminal matter; a second warrant will be issued for this incident. Police did not release the suspect’s name Thursday.

The property owner, who lives out of state, does not appear to have known about the grow operation, Adams said.

Authorities have the plants in storage and will begin stripping them of buds and stems today to determine the total weight and value, Adams said. Had all of the plants grown to full maturity, Haberer estimates the find would have been worth $200,000 to $500,000.

The case is under investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and will be prosecuted out of the U.S. Attorney General’s Office out of Minneapolis, Adams said. State charges are also pending.

Cases that get federal attention usually involve a large number of plants and may have connections to larger drug networks or gangs, Haberer said.

Authorities did not release details on the seizure until Thursday because of the size of the operation and ensuing investigation, Adams said.

Haberer said he believes this case is consistent with a trend he’s seen out of the Twin Cities: renting property specifically for use as a grow house. No one appears to have been living at the Fergus Falls home, and the amount of traffic suggests sales weren’t taking place at the property.

“Neighbors had noticed more than one person coming and leaving but not a huge group of people,” Haberer said.

Walls of the house were covered with a foil-like material used to trap heat and moisture, he said. Ventilation tubes had been used to direct heat up through the attic and out of the house.

Police had received a report of smoke in the area last winter, Adams said. The officer who responded to the call determined the amount of steam coming out of the house was not unusual for that time of year, he said.

911 Call Leads To Discovery Of Large Marijuana Growing Operation

2009-08-06T15:27:00.000-07:00

WESTVILLE — A rural Westville man was arrested for having a large indoor marijuana growing operation in the basement of his home.

LaPorte County police arrested 56-year-old James K. Pappas after a 911 call led them to his home.
Just after 11 a.m. on August 4, a man called 911 and said he saw two men shoot another man and drag him into a home in the 1800 South block of Otis Road. The caller hung up before giving additional information. Minutes later a second 911 call came in from a man who said he was the victim of a shooting at the same address giving in the first call. He also said he was being held in a room in the basement of the home and needed help. The caller hung up before giving additional information.
Police arrived at the address and were met by Pappas, who denied that a shooting occurred and said he knew nothing of the 911 call. Deputies found Pappas’ behavior suspicious, and he refused them entry into his home to verify that there was no shooting victim. Given the circumstances, deputies entered the home anyway and discovered the growing operation.
No shooting victim or evidence of a shooting was found at the home, and police searched the neighborhood to ensure there was no victim at a nearby home.
After obtaining a search warrant, police seized 190 marijuana plants, ranging in size from several inches to several feet, as well as marijuana in various stages of drying and prepackaged marijuana that appeared to be packaged for sale. Lighting and electrical equipment, air handling equipment, a large generator and computers were also seized.
Due to the size of the operation, investigators from the Drug Enforcement Agency and Indiana State Police were called to assist with the investigation.
“This discovery and subsequent seizure is the fourth substantial and sophisticated indoor marijuana growing operation that has been seized within the last year by the County’s Metro Operations Unit and the Sheriff’s Office,” Sheriff Michael Mollenhauer said in a press release. “The estimated street value of the marijuana seized as a result of this investigation is in excess of $190,000 and judging by the scope of this operation, it is believed that a very lucrative, personally owned but illegal business has been disrupted.”
Pappas was charged with possession of marijuana and maintaining a common nuisance, both felonies. He was released on $5,000 bond.

Police Seize 4.5 Pounds Of Marijuana From New Britain Home

2009-08-06T04:18:00.000-07:00

NEW BRITAIN - A local man was arrested after officers found marijuana in his car and more than 4 pounds of it in his home, police said.

Francisco Ayala, 18, of Kelsey Street, was arrested Tuesday on numerous drug possession charges, police said today.

Police from the department's special services unit made the arrest after conducting surveillance of Ayala as a part of an investigation that lasted several months, they said in a press release. They had received information that he was selling marijuana throughout the city.

Officers saw him conduct a drug deal in downtown New Britain, police said. They approached him and immediately smelled marijuana coming from his car. They searched the car and found about 69 grams, or 2.4 ounces, of marijuana and $190, police said.

Police then searched his home and found 4.5 pounds of marijuana, which they said has a street value of about $30,000. Other seized items include packaging materials, scales and $300.

Ayala is scheduled to appear in Superior Court in New Britain later this month.

Thirty-three pounds of marijuana allegedly discovered

2009-08-06T04:08:00.000-07:00

YORK — Christine Stanton, a 59-year-old woman whose address has not been disclosed, has been charged with delivery of a controlled substance and being in the possession of more than a pound of marijuana, after being arrested in York County.

She’s accused of transporting 33 pounds of marijuana through York County.

Tuesday afternoon, her attorney, York County Public Defender Eric Williams entered a not guilty plea on her behalf, as she was unable to appear in court.

According to the arrest affidavit, she was stopped by a trooper with the Nebraska State Patrol (NSF) at the Henderson exit along Interstate 80. The trooper says that within minutes, a canine unit detected the smell of marijuana in Station’s vehicle. The trooper said that the marijuana was found in her Oregon-plated Ford Excursion. The trooper said further that a large hidden compartment was found in the floor of the vehicle, as well.

Bond was set at $250,000, 10 percent.

If convicted, Stanton could be facing up to 25 years in prison and/or $35,000 in fines, as the charges are Class 3 and 4 felonies.

Cop is killer, not marijuana dealer

2009-08-06T04:07:00.000-07:00

A defense attorney for a marijuana dealer charged with killing and burying a man because he stole his money pointed to Chicago Police officer Jerome Finnigan as the man who pulled the trigger.

Finnigan, formerly of the police Special Operations Section, shot Eric Kaminski three times in the head on Feb. 4, 2004 after Daniel Nevarez told him Kaminski stole $40,000 of cash and two kilograms of marijuana from his home, Stuart Goldberg claimed during his opening statement’s at Nevarez’s murder trial this afternoon.

“Jerome Finnigan, supervising officer of the S.O.S. commanding team was the murderer of the victim in this case,” Goldberg said.

“It was Jerome Finnigan who ended Eric Kaminski’s life.”

Nevarez, 27, had been paying off Finnigan $3,500 a month to keep him from getting arrested, Goldberg said.

And when the money disappeared, Nevarez allegedly told Finnigan he couldn’t pay him. So Finnigan met with Kaminski, 25, in a building Nevarez’s father owns, in the 2200 block of West Coulter, and shot him, Goldberg said.

Finnigan has been charged along with other members of the now-disbanded Special Operations Section of falsely arresting and robbing people. Finnigan is also charged in federal court with plotting to kill a fellow officer, Keith Herrera, whom he believed was cooperating with the corruption investigation.

Nevarez was charged in 2008 with first-degree murder and concealment of a homicide.

Prosecutors allege Nevarez, a reputed member of the Satan Disciples street gang, shot Kaminski in the head and shoulder and buried him under a dirt floor in the basement of his father’s basement.

He got a friend to help dig a hole in the basement by threatening him, “You better help me m----------- or you’ll end up like him,” Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Bill Delaney said.

Nevarez had hired Kaminski to paint his home, in the 4400 block of South Knox.

Finnigan's attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.

150 Pounds Of Marijuana Seized From Business

2009-08-06T04:05:00.000-07:00

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Richmond County authorities seized nearly 150 pounds of marijuana from an Augusta business Wednesday.
The business was Custom Car Care, on Milledgeville Road and Richmond County Sheriff's Office investigators had a search warrant to check out the scene.
According to a Richmond County sheriff's report, investigators serving a warrant at 3:37 a.m. found the drugs hidden in a large wooden crate.
Police charged 28-year-old Ronald Ivan Morgan, an employee, with charges including trafficking marijuana and giving a false name and date of birth.
Authorities found 6 grams of marijuana in the suspects pockets and also recovered two ecstasy pills from a refrigerator inside the business.

1,000 Pound Marijuana Bust in Tucson

2009-08-05T06:06:00.000-07:00

TUCSON - U.S. Border Patrol agents seized more than 1,000 lbs. of marijuana Monday -- an approximate street value of $812,000

A man observed near an abandoned house had several bundles of marijuana inside his vehicle, agents say. Several more bundles were found inside the abandoned house.

Forty-four bundles were seized, weighing approximately 1,016 pounds.

The man, who is in the country illegally from Mexico, is being held pending prosecution.

Border agents seize smuggled marijuana near Yuma

2009-08-05T06:03:00.000-07:00

YUMA — Border Patrol agents used tire deflation to disable the vehicle of some drug smugglers who abandoned their stolen truck early Tuesday and left behind nearly 1,200 pounds of marijuana.

Authorities say the 1,194 pounds of marijuana was wrapped into 40 bundles and had a street value of about $955,000.

Agents from the Wellton station discovered tire tracks leading way from the international border fence about 60 miles east of Yuma around 1 a.m. and say they soon spotted the truck using night vision equipment.

The agents say they deploying a deflation device on a road and deflated three of the truck's tires, but the driver was able to continue driving for about two miles through the desert before abandoning it.

Authorities say the driver and a passenger fled into the rugged mountain terrain.

Agents later learned that the drug smugglers had cut through the heavy steel bollard fence to make entry into the United States.

State police seize 300 pounds of marijuana in Southampton

2009-08-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

About 300 pounds of marijuana were seized from a tractor-trailer driven by a New York man who was stopped on Interstate 81 in Southampton Township in Cumberland County Tuesday, according to state police.

Police said Seymour Leiba, 44, of the Bronx, was stopped for a traffic violation about 7:10 p.m. near northbound mile marker 27. The Drug Law Division then located the marijuana in the trailer and seized it, police said.

Leiba was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and placed in Cumberland County Prison, where he was awaiting arraignment Wednesday morning.

2 arrested; marijuana seized

2009-08-05T05:57:00.000-07:00

FLORENCE - Two women were arrested and more than $90,000 in marijuana seized Monday after a two-year drug investigation.

Debra Kaneitha Horton, 50, 901 Pruitt St., Florence, and Pamela Michelle Jones, 36, 117 Button Ave., Florence, are charged with attempted trafficking in marijuana, said Lauderdale County Drug Task Force officials.

They were arrested after the marijuana was delivered to their houses through the mail.

Authorities said the marijuana weighed more than 37 pounds and was shipped in three boxes.

Task force agent Tim Glover said the marijuana was being delivered to Florence for resale.

"They're upper-level dealers, and we have information that they were selling in multiple counties, so we believe they were moving quite a bit of marijuana," he said.

Glover said each box contained "mini-bales" of marijuana.

Glover said the drug task force, U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, Florence police and U.S. postal inspectors executed search warrants at the Button Avenue and Pruitt Street houses.

Authorities said no one was at a third location but a package was taken into custody.

"These individuals have been under investigation for at least two years, and we recently got information they could be getting a shipment in," Glover said.

"We had been watching the houses since last week and it finally arrived Monday."

Agents said they tracked the shipment to an area in south Texas.

"We're still working with other agencies at this time to try and determine the exact location where the marijuana came from," Glover said.

Horton and Jones are being held in the Lauderdale County Detention Center on bail of $25,000 each.

Suspicious vehicle leads to bust

2009-08-04T14:29:00.000-07:00

EL PASO -- Police officers investigating a suspicious vehicle at a West Side apartment complex made a cocaine bust, police officials said.

Shortly after 2 p.m. Friday, officers responded to the 200 block of McClintock to investigate the suspicious vehicle. Once there, they noticed the strong odor of marijuana coming from a nearby apartment unit.

A resident at the unit, 19-year-old Neftali Mendoza, gave officers permission to enter the premises. Inside, officers found eight pounds of pot, more than 60 grams of cocaine, and items commonly used in the packaging of drugs for distribution, officials said.

Officers arrested Mendoza and he was charged with a count of Manufacture/Delivery of Cocaine, a count of Possession of Marijuana and a count of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Mendoza was booked him into the El Paso County Detention Facility in lieu of a $60,000 bond.

Domestic dispute leads authorities to 400 marijuana plants in Powhatan

2009-08-04T14:25:00.000-07:00

A domestic dispute between a husband and wife led Powhatan County deputies to about 400 mature marijuana plants concealed on the couple's property.

The husband, John Paul Russell Sr., 57, was charged with domestic assault and manufacturing marijuana at his home in the Little Fighting Creek subdivision in Powhatan. His wife, the alleged victim, told deputies about the marijuana, which was camouflaged with other plants behind a shed, authorities said.

"It's pretty significant grow operation when you get 400 plants," said Lt. Detective Kevin R. Wolfe of the Powhatan Sheriff's Office. "That's the most I've seen since I've been here, in 1996."

Police received a call just before 10 a.m. Sunday about a family member brandishing a weapon. When officers arrived, they learned that Russell's son, who lived elsewhere, had brandished a gun in response to the domestic fight between his parents, said Lt. Randy Stickels.

Russell's wife then informed deputies about the plants, Stickels said..

Wolfe said he didn't know how much marijuana the plants could produce. "We have not got the lab analysis back on it to give us that information," he said.

Wolfe declined to say whether investigators found any harvested marijuana inside the house. Deputies cut down the marijuana crop and placed it in storage as their investigation proceeds.

Russell was being held on $50,000 bond in the Powhatan Correctional Center in lieu of $50,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear tomorrow in Powhatan Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court.

Pair charged after marijuana grow operation found in Manitoulin Island home

2009-08-04T14:24:00.001-07:00

Two people are facing drug-related charges after a drug search warrant on Central Manitoulin Township about two weeks ago turned up marijuana plants and marijuana with an estimated street value of $39,000.

Manitoulin Ontario Provincial Police, along with Wikwemikong Tribal Police and the Sudbury OPP Drug Enforcement Section carried out the search at a residence on Highway 542 July 23. An indoor marijuana grow operation was discovered.

As a result of the investigation, Thomas Schmutz, 44, and Monique Hunse, 39, both of Highway 542, Carnarvon, have both been charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, and production of marijuana.

Schmutz and Hunse have both been released and are scheduled to appear in court in Gore Bay.

Man arrested after marijuana found in van

2009-08-04T14:21:00.000-07:00

Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s deputies found 61 pounds of marijuana in a California man’s vehicle on Interstate 80 Saturday morning.

Sheriff Jeff Danker said Deputy Brian Miller stopped a 2006 Honda Civic for speeding near the 5-mile marker of I-80 eastbound. David Strock, 31, of Willits, Calif., was identified as the driver. Danker said after talking with Strock, Miller became suspicious.

“Things didn’t add up, so to speak,” Danker said.

Miller walked a K-9 officer around the vehicle, and the dog indicated the scent of drugs were inside. Upon further examination and assistance from the Southwest Iowa Narcotics Task Force, it was discovered that 61 pounds of marijuana was in the van

Strock was arrested on suspicion of possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and failure to affix a tax stamp. He was taken to the Pottawattamie County Jail where he was released after posting a $5,000 bond.

Marijuana found in gas tank at Roma bridge

2009-08-04T14:18:00.001-07:00

ROMA — Customs officers discovered close to 200 pounds of marijuana inside a SUV's gas tank Friday at the Roma-Ciudad Miguel Alemán International Bridge.

The drugs carried a street value of nearly $160,000, officials said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers Friday came in contact with a 1997 Chevrolet Suburban headed north at the bridge. The driver and vehicle were referred to secondary inspection, where "Nero," a detector dog, smelled narcotics emanating from beneath the vehicle.

An X-ray scan revealed something inside the vehicle's fuel tank and officers later found two metal containers filled with compressed marijuana.

Officers arrested Santos Martinez Salazar, a 43-year-old Mexican national from Red Springs, N.C. on federal drug charges. He remains in custody pending an appearance before a magistrate judge.

Customs officers seized the drugs and the vehicle.

2,300 marijuana plants seized in Yakima County WA

2009-08-04T03:24:00.001-07:00

HARRAH, Wash. (AP) - Authorities say they have seized about 2,300 marijuana plants from three plots located in a wooded area on the Yakama Indian reservation in central Washington.

The latest bust pushes the total number of plants seized in Yakima County to about 100,000 in the annual effort by local authorities to curb the growth of marijuana production in the region.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reports Yakima County is the top county in the state for marijuana production.

No one was arrested in Monday's raid at Harrah, Wash.

Raritan Borough man charged with marijuana possession

2009-08-04T03:22:00.001-07:00

Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne Forrest and Raritan Borough Police Department Chief Laurence Hess today announced the arrest of Bernard Ramos, 29, of First Avenue in Raritan Borough, N.J. He has been charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, in addition to other offenses, the Forrest stated in a press release.

The prosecutor gives the following account of the incidents and allegations surrounding the arrest:

Ramos' arrest is the result of a two-month long narcotics investigation conducted by the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force along with the Raritan Borough Police Department. As a result of the ongoing narcotics investigation, a Somerset County Superior Court Search Warrant was obtained for the residence and the person of defendant Bernard Ramos. On July 31, members of the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force and members of the Raritan Borough Police Department executed the search warrant on the residence.

As a result of the search warrant being executed, about one ounce of marijuana and drug paraphernalia (i.e. plastic baggies, digital scale), were seized from Ramos' residence. The marijuana seized from the residence has an estimated street value of $300.

Bail for Ramos was set at $5,000. He is being held at Somerset County Jail pending bail.
Charges against Ramos include third-degree possession of marijuana with intent to distribute while within 1000 feet of school property; third-degree possession of drug paraphernalia; and a disorderly persons offense.

Cops seize marijuana, drug paraphernalia

2009-08-04T03:18:00.000-07:00

DIXFIELD - Police seized nearly two dozen marijuana plants, processed marijuana and miscellaneous growing apparatus following a search of a three-story apartment building on July 25.

According to a news release issued by Dixfield police officer Mark Dow on Monday, police acted on a tip from an informant stating that drug activity was suspected at the apartment building on Weld Street.

Seized from what was described as a grow room were 23 plants, exhaust fans, a carbon dioxide dispersion system, processed marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Along with Dow, Dixfield officers Jeffrey Howe, Eric Bernier and David Hodgdon, and officer Dean Benson of the Mexico Police Department took part in the search.

Nazareth man found with marijuana, more than $125,000 in car

2009-08-03T13:27:00.001-07:00

A Nazareth man pulled over Friday night for suspected drunken driving had marijuana and more than $125,000 in cash, borough police said.

Keith Eutsey, 33, was stopped about 10:20 p.m. on Route 248 after driving erratically, and police observed him throwing marijuana out of the car as they approached, Deputy Chief Thomas Trachta said.

After he was placed under arrest, Eutsey indicated there was a large sum of money in the car, Trachta said. After securing a search warrant, police found additional marijuana and the money.

In addition to more than $125,000 in real cash, Trachta said counterfeit money was found inside the vehicle. Trachta declined to say how much marijuana was seized.

Eutsey, of Old Towne Road, was charged with possession of marijuana and released, but Trachta said additional charges are possible pending an investigation.

150 Pounds Of Marijuana Seized During Dayton Traffic Stop

2009-08-03T13:22:00.000-07:00

DAYTON -- A Pennsylvania man is facing felony drug charges after Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers seized 150 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop over the weekend.

Officials say James Santopiepro, 28, was pulled over for a following too closely violation on I-70 in Preble County on Saturday. Troopers say they observed criminal indicators and a search was conducted.

The highway patrol says the amount of marijuana seized is valued at more than $340,000.

Santopiepro is charged with possession of marijuana, a second-degree felony, and possession of criminal tools, a fifth-degree felony.

He faces up to nine years in prison and a $17,500 fine if he is convicted.

Million-dollar bust in Hobbema

2009-08-03T07:25:00.000-07:00

August 01, 2009

Hobbema RCMP are searching for suspects after seizing marijuana plants and equipment on Thursday night worth $1 million.

Const. James Lai, with the Hobbema RCMP, said it is one of the largest grow operations they’ve seen in Central Alberta in the last five years.

RCMP members found 800 maturing marijuana plants in two large outdoor greenhouses and a .22 calibre rifle on the Samson First Nation.

The plants, hydroponic and growing equipment has a street value of approximately $1 million, according to police. There were ventilation systems and tools to cut up the marijuana.

Lai said the operation was a natural grow operation, with a clear top over the plants to improve the greenhouse effect. The culprits also used a coloured top to conceal the grow operation from police flyovers.

Police received information about a large marijuana growing operation on the Samson First Nation and went to check out the local residence, not knowing until they examined it further how large an operation it was.

“The majority of the plants will be automatically destroyed once we get authorization from Health Canada,” Lai said. “A sample group will be kept for evidence in case charges are laid and to ensure how much THC or how strong the plants are.”

Hobbema RCMP, with air support, Wetaskiwin RCMP and the Edmonton Drug Section were involved in the drug bust.

“The investigation is still ongoing. We are looking for possible suspects and we’re still waiting for examination results from our forensics unit to be returned to us,” said Lai.

The forensics unit could turn up fingerprints or other evidence that could help determine who was part of the grow op.

As of Saturday no charges had yet been laid and it was unknown how many people were involved in the marijuana growing operation. The matter is currently under investigation by the Hobbema RCMP community response unit.

Manatee authorities seize marijuana grow house

2009-08-01T16:05:00.000-07:00

MANATEE — Two men are in custody after investigators raided a grow house of marijuana plants ranging from three to four feet high, according to arrest warrants released Friday.
Manatee County Sheriff’s Office investigators were tipped off through a confidential source about the residence located in the 1100 block of 36th Avenue West on July 14.
Inside were about 125 marijuana plants along with indoor grow equipment, according to the warrant. The residence had no furniture except for a desk sitting in the living room.

Authorities arrested Prince M. Cenatis, who left his mail and business cards inside the grow house. Cenatis was arrested at the Barbary Shoppe in Lakewood Ranch.
Authorities also took the owner of the residence — Colby N. Starkey. Detectives observed Starkey purchasing grow equipment at home depot through surveillance footage.
On Oct. 17, 2007 authorities found a grow house in the 1700 block of 29th Avenue East. Starkey was also the owner of that residence.
Both men were arrested Thursday. Starkey posted a $5,000 bond, and Cenatis remained in jail Saturday.

$80k of marijuana seized on I-40

2009-08-01T16:03:00.001-07:00

GALLUP (AP) - New Mexico authorities say they have seized more than 40 kilos of marijuana from a big rig at the Gallup port of entry and arrested the driver.
Motor Transportation Department police were conducting commercial vehicle inspections this week at the Gallup port off Interstate 40 when an inspector noticed discrepancies in the log book of a truck driver.
These discrepancies lead to a full inspection of the driver's tractor-trailer and authorities found three large boxes that contained 40 kilos of raw marijuana wrapped in large bundles.
Authorities say the marijuana had an estimated street value of at least $80,000.
The driver - 39-year-old Mark A. Reid of Florida - told authorities he picked up the marijuana in Phoenix.
Reid was cited for a log book infraction and arrested for possession of a controlled substance.
He's been booked into the McKinley County Detention Center.

Marijuana charges filed against teacher for growing plant

2009-08-01T16:00:00.001-07:00

A Pushmataha County middle school teacher, her forest ranger husband and her son have been charged with felony marijuana cultivation.

Court papers indicate that law enforcement officials spotted a marijuana field from a helicopter on July 20 near the home of Katherine Henslee, 52, east of Antlers.

Officers on the ground found the plants on a path that led to the Henslee residence and found five more marijuana plants in pots near a shop building on the property.

Authorities found Henslee, her husband John Henslee, 53, and son Alan Henslee, 21, inside the home. An affidavit says all three denied knowing about the plants.

A school Web site says Katherine Henslee is a 6th grade reading teacher at Obuch Middle School in Antlers. John Henslee is a state forest ranger.

Police seek suspect in marijuana bust

2009-08-01T05:55:00.000-07:00

PUBLISHED: July 30, 2009

Nearly 2,000 marijuana plants were found in Manchester.
Officials with the Michigan State Police are still searching for the suspect in connection with one of the state's largest outdoor marijuana growing operations.

The discovery was made near a storage unit off of Sharon Hollow Road north of U.S. 12 in Manchester Township July 21 as part of a federally-funded narcotics crackdown operation throughout the state.

Lt. Monica Yesh, a spokeswoman for the state police, said law enforcement agencies first discovered the plants after a police helicopter flyover turned up a large and flourishing crop near the property.

"There was about 2,000 planta growing on the property," she said. "This is the biggest outdoor growing operations we've investigated."

As of Friday, no arrests have been made in conjunction with the case.

"We do have a suspect," Yesh said. "We hope he will turn himself in."

Yesh said when officers arrived at the property, the male suspect fled on foot and is still at large.

"We have troopers at the location around the clock collecting evidence," she said.

Once all the evidence is collected, state police will determine whether the crime will be prosecuted at the state or federal level.

"Obviously if he turns himself in and cooperates with us we will be able to work with him," she said.

The annual flyovers are part of the Domestic Cannabis Eradication/ Suppression Program, formerly known as HEMP (Help Eliminate Marijuana Planting).

Outdoor marijuana growing is fairly common in rural areas Yesh said.

"Because of the nature of rural open areas, unforunately you will find more people trying to get away with outdoor growing," she said. "The incident in Manchester wasn't surprising but it was unexpected."

More than 70 law enforcement officers took part in the effort Tuesday afternoon. The investigation has been turned over to the Washtenaw County drug enforcement unit.

Yesh said the drug enforcement program would continue throughout the state in the coming weeks.

30,000 marijuana plants seized in Humboldt County

2009-08-01T05:48:00.000-07:00

Four days of raiding outdoor marijuana gardens had local law enforcement seizing 30,000 plants with the help of the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting.
Throughout the week, CAMP teams eradicated 13,000 marijuana plants from Hoopa Valley tribal land and timber company property; 8,200 plants from California State Parks land and timber company property near Pepperwood; 6,200 plants from timber company property near Blocksburg; and 1,000 plants on U.S. Forest Service property near Orleans, according to a Humboldt County Sheriff's Office press release.
Sgt. Wayne Hanson of the sheriff's office said many outdoor marijuana gardens in Humboldt County are planted on timber company property or public land and are protected by armed growers.
”The reason CAMP exists is to make sure it's safe,” he said. “What if someone goes nature hiking or something and walks onto one of these groves? That's why we're here.”
The raiding teams consisted of personnel from CAMP, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Drug Task Force, according to the press release.
No arrests were made during the plant seizures, but four men were seen running from a garden Monday near Weitchpec as deputies were lowered from a helicopter, Hanson said. Catching growers is difficult due to the steep terrain and remote areas where the gardens are usually grown.
”Perps always hear our helicopters coming,” he said.
Police found 5,000 plants in the Weitchpec grow along with .380 handgun ammunition, Hanson said.
CAMP is a state-funded program that provides local law enforcement with support and personnel for the missions. Humboldt County couldn't afford to take on the outdoor marijuana grows without CAMP's assistance, Hanson said.
”The cost to Humboldt County without CAMP would be astronomical,” he said. “It costs $800 an hour for the helicopter, plus personnel.”
The sheriff's office does the initial investigation: searching for marijuana gardens via air surveillance and plotting the locations with a GPS device, Hanson said. Then they call CAMP and schedule to raid the grows.
CAMP will continue operations in Humboldt County throughout the summer.

Smell leads cops to marijuana, money

2009-07-31T12:08:00.000-07:00

The smell of marijuana at a sobriety checkpoint resulted in the seizure of nearly $9,000, drugs and two arrests earlier this week.
Arrested were Carl Edward Chaney, 33, of Murfreesboro and Jessie Darnell Davidson, 30, of Tullahoma. Both have been charged with possession of schedule VI for resale and Chaney was also charged with introduction of contraband into a penal institution.

The bust was a result of cooperation between the Bedford County Sheriff's Department and the Shelbyville Police Department, with help from the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

Late Sunday night, a maroon car approached the checkpoint and Deputy Mike Henry noticed a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle.

Henry asked Chaney to pull over to the side of the road and patted him down for weapons, asking if there was anything illegal in the car, with the deputy explaining that he could smell pot.

The report said that Chaney said "there was nothing in the vehicle that he was aware of," but at the same time, a state trooper was patting down Davidson and noticed "a large amount of cash coming out of the front pocket of Mr. Davidson's pants."

Davidson asked for permission to take the money out and lay it on the hood of the car while Henry asked for permission to search the vehicle, which was granted.

Officer Tracey Nelson and K-9 Officer Remy began to check the vehicle and the dog "indicated" on the driver's door of the car, the center console, the ash tray and driver's door panel. The dog also alerted on the hood to the car, where the cash was lying at the time.

Nelson asked Henry to move the money to the back seat of the car so that Remy wouldn't jump onto the hood of the vehicle and after that was done, Nelson led Remy to check the rest of the car. Remy then alerted again on the money that had been moved to the back seat, the report read.

Officers checked those areas the dog "hit" on and discovered $5,618 in cash in the center console. A marijuana blunt, a cigar filled with pot, was discovered on the floor next to the driver's seat. Davidson was carrying a total of $2,350, officers said.

Henry told the pair that Remy was going to walk around them to check for any narcotics and Davidson told officers that he had some marijuana in his shoes and gave the deputy individual bags of pot. Davidson told Henry he obtained the pot from a friend in Tullahoma.

The money and drugs were seized as evidence, with a total of 18 grams (over half an ounce) of marijuana taken and $8,968 in cash.

Officers discovered an additional three bags of pot when Chaney was admitted to Bedford County Jail, which led to the charge of introduction of contraband into a penal institution.

Chaney is free on $15,000 bond and Davidson made bond of $10,000. Both men are scheduled to appear in Bedford County General Sessions Court on Aug. 19.

Florida's Marijuana Boom: House-Grown, and Potent

2009-07-31T06:56:00.000-07:00

California may be the center of the marijuana trade and the controversies over its legalization. But Florida has surpassed it in one important category: the Sunshine State is now the country's leader in indoor marijuana cultivation. It is a potent distinction because most of the marijuana grown this way is cultured hydroponically — that is, mostly without soil and with a carefully calibrated cocktail of chemicals and lighting — to create some of the highest level of highs on the market.

In 2006, Florida law enforcement here discovered 480 homes growing marijuana indoors. Last year, 1,022 grow houses were busted. "This isn't your grandma's marijuana," quipped a Miami-Dade narcotics officer at one bust as he tossed garbage bags stuffed with confiscated marijuana into an unmarked police truck. Levels of THC — the agent in marijuana that produces feelings of euphoria, and in some users mild hallucinations and paranoia — have risen dramatically because of indoor techniques. Thirty years ago, most marijuana contained about 7% THC. Today, indoor growers boast THC levels of 25% or higher thanks to the additional care that indoor plants receive.
(See pictures of 4/20, the unofficial pot holiday.)

Indoors, high-powered lights that stimulate growth can remain on all day, their nourishing rays reflected off the metallic-coated paper covering walls. The chemical fertilizers used are just as powerful and nourishing, spawning fast-growing plants that produce more THC than those raised outdoors.
(See pictures of America's cannabis culture.)

TIME accompanied undercover agents on a recent bust on a quiet street of a working-class Miami suburb. As soon as the agents enter the front door, they know they've acted on a good tip. The pungent smell of plant life fills the air. The ceiling of the master bedroom is a constellation of high-powered lightbulbs emitting a nourishing glow onto what officers estimate is more than 100 lb. of particularly potent marijuana plants with a street value upwards of $800,000.
(See pictures of stoner cinema.)

While most of the marijuana is freshly cut and drying on a clothesline stretched across the room, pots of smaller plants still months away from maturing line the walls. An irrigation system supplies water and chemical fertilizers to the plants via a hose that runs into the adjacent bathroom, where the toxic brew used to accelerate plants' growth is dumped down a drain.

On the Florida market, a pound of indoor grown marijuana goes for upwards of $4,000. But in the Northeast, the best market for Florida growers, the same marijuana goes for about $8,000 a pound. Unlike their closest regional rivals, Florida growers can produce up to four crops annually.

"These operations are mushrooming all over the state of Florida," says State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle for Miami-Dade County, the de facto capital of the state's indoor pot industry. Taking these operations down is dangerous work. Some growers stockpile automatic weapons to protect themselves — and to fend off thieves who are after the valuable crop.
(Watch TIME's video "Medical Marijuana Home Delivery.")

Miami Police Major Charles Nanney says informants played a crucial role in the success of a statewide crackdown in June that resulted in the seizure of 6,828 marijuana plants and 120 residential marijuana labs over the course of a few days. Among the best tipsters, they say, are electricians paid big money by growers to wire the sophisticated network of lights and air conditioners used to cool plants and subject them to round-the-clock illumination. The energy-chugging networks require an expert's touch to bypass the electric meter and tap straight into the grid. A sharp increase in electricity used to be a telltale sign of a grow house. Some growers have caught on, however, and are learning to mask their energy profile.

Money-laundering is an attendant crime. But so is trafficking in undocumented migrant workers. A single marijuana growing operation can consist of a dozen homes or more, requiring many hands to tend to the plants. And when arrests are made, those taken in are often neither the homeowner nor the person named on the lease. The actual operators usually elude capture. Still, workers are lured by the promise of a piece of the profits and rent-free living, sometimes raising children among the deadly high-voltage lights and other potential life-threatening apparatuses associated with indoor marijuana.
(Read "Is Marijuana the Answer to California's Budget Woes?")

The state's real estate catastrophe contributes to the problem as well. Captain Joe Mendez from the South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), says operators flush with cash are attracted to the abundance of cheap homes in Florida, particularly in Miami-Dade, which leads the state in foreclosures. While Florida's legitimate economy continues to flail, the HIDTA captain says indoor marijuana is thriving even though law enforcement is arresting more people every year. Says Mendez: "If the economic downturn remains as it is, I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel."

Two more homes raided in Sunset district marijuana busts

2009-07-31T04:44:00.000-07:00

July 30, 2009

Smoked out: This home in the Sunset is reportedly the site of a massive marijuana-growing operation busted up Tuesday by San Francisco police.

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco police on Wednesday continued a series of busts targeting large marijuana-growing operations in the Sunset District, raiding two homes, arresting three people and seizing 1,000 plants, handguns and an assault rifle, a police captain said Thursday.
At about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, officers from the Taraval station raided a home in the 100 block of St. Charles Avenue, located in the Merced Extension Triangle neighborhood, police Capt. Paul Chignell said. Police had obtained a search warrant based on complaints from neighbors and other evidence of a marijuana-growing operation.
Chignell said about 1,000 plants were confiscated along with other items inside the home, as well as evidence electricity had been stolen to power the operation.
The find then led officers to another home in the 2400 block of 17th Avenue, where a fully automatic assault rifle, three handguns,
ammunition and ammunition clips were discovered, Chignell said.
Two men and a woman were arrested on marijuana cultivation and weapons charges, as well as for theft of utility services.
One suspect lived in both homes, another lived on Lakeview Avenue and the third is a Concord resident, Chignell said.
The raids came after a man was arrested on marijuana cultivation and sales charges Tuesday for another alleged growing operation in which 346 pot plants were seized.
Chignell said Thursday's operation was the 23rd such operation in the last six months in the Sunset and Ingleside neighborhoods.
"By those numbers, it's very widespread," Chignell said. "Because there's a lot more operating that we don't know about."
Police are often tipped off to growing operations by neighbors who report a strange smell coming from the home, hearing electrical generators running 24 hours a day, and seeing a home's windows permanently covered up, Chignell said.
The homes are often rented and the utilities bypassed to avoid huge electrical bills, he said.
Walls inside the homes are sometimes torn down without the landlord being notified, and the large amounts of electricity used to power
the growing operations can present a fire danger, Chignell said.
"As long as we continue to get complaints from people and information, we'll continue to try to eradicate them," he said.

Agents seize 6,000 pounds of marijuana in Sun City

2009-07-31T04:39:00.002-07:00

State and regional law enforcement agents seized 6,000 pounds of marijuana worth $2.5 million from a small warehouse behind a Sun City home Wednesday afternoon and arrested six people on suspicion of trying to distribute the pot.

Ernie Limon, a special agent supervisor with the state Justice Department's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, said a warehouse behind a home in the 27000 block of Murrieta Boulevard in a sparsely populated area of Sun City may have been used to store and distribute narcotics for some time.

It was discovered after California Highway Patrol officers stopped a minivan for a traffic violation just after 4 p.m. on Murrieta Boulevard. Officers say they spotted 16 bundles of marijuana in plain sight in the back of the minivan. They called the Inland Cities Allied Crime Task Force, a team of law enforcement officers from agencies such as the San Bernardino County and Riverside County sheriff's and probation departments, Limon said by phone.

After questioning the two men in the van, officers raided the home. There they found more than 260 bundles of marijuana weighing 18 to 22 pounds apiece in the backyard warehouse, Limon said. Two firearms also were found.

"When you find that quantity of marijuana, you know they were warehousing it and distributing it to other areas," Limon said. "It wasn't their first time."

Limon could not recall that much marijuana found in a single case in the Sun City area. He has been with the state's narcotics enforcement agency for 15 years.

He said officers were just starting the investigation to determine where the marijuana came from and where it was going and who else may have been involved.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday that the state's marijuana crop is on pace to be the largest in history, with much of it making its way to the East Coast, according to drug enforcement agents.

Though Limon said he believes the marijuana taken Wednesday may have been brought in from Mexico, it's likely to have been headed for the East Coast, where it can fetch higher prices than out West.

Police arrested Eloy Perez, 33, of Sun City; Rogelio Garcia, 65, of Coachella; Valentin Gonzalez, 29, of Coachella; Horacio Felix, 20, of Sun City; Martin Salazar, 22, of Sun City; and Marcio Inzunza, 42, of Sun City. They were booked into the Southwest Detention Center in French Valley on suspicion of marijuana possession with intent to distribute, Limon said.

The U.S. Border Patrol was questioning the six men to determine citizenship status. The owner of the home was not there at the time but is also under investigation, Limon said.

Canton man gets probation for growing marijuana

2009-07-31T04:39:00.001-07:00

Posted Jul 30, 2009 @ 12:15 PM
CANTON —
A city man got probation Wednesday for growing marijuana.

Stark County Common Pleas Judge John G. Haas placed Christopher J. Pelfrey, 26, of 2419 Coventry Blvd. NE, on probation for three years.

Failure to follow the rules of probation could lead to a four years in prison, said Assistant Stark County Prosecutor Chryssa Hartnett.

Authorities found 30 marijuana plants and equipment in Pelfrey’s home during a raid in March, according to court papers.

He pleaded guilty in June to illegal cultivation of marijuana.

Vancouver cops seize two marijuana 'transfer houses'

2009-07-31T04:32:00.000-07:00

VANCOUVER — A lengthy Vancouver police undercover operation has led to a series of charges and the seizure of two marijuana "transfer houses" used by organized crime.

VPD Insp. Brad Desmarais said the houses on Renfrew and Knight streets were operated just like "grain elevators," where a variety of underworld pot producers took their dope to have it distributed to buyers in other provinces and the U.S.

Over the course of the investigation — dubbed Project Trapdoor — police surveillance saw 70 different cars arrive at just one of the houses. Many of the vehicles were associated with gangsters and others known to police.

Desmarais said by targeting the "transfer houses" and not just traditional marijuana- growing operations, police are disrupting the crime groups higher up the food chain.

"It is also important to understand that the commercial marijuana producer is not the sole participant in this industry. There are persons who run staging areas, sometimes referred to as transfer houses, and there are transportation managers and, finally, there are distributors. All of these folks take a piece of this very lucrative pie," Desmarais told a news conference.

Husband and wife Van Ngan Ngan Nguyen, 45, and Thi Thuy Nguyen, 41, were each charged with one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking, as were Ping Ting Chen, 25, and Zhi Hua Zhao, 34. Zhao was also charged with trafficking. Also seized for civil forfeiture proceedings were the houses in the 3200 block of Renfrew and 4800 block of Knight and two vehicles. Police also netted $79,000 Cdn and $40,000 US, much of which was stacked in piles on a table at the news conference.

Sgt. Neil Munro said Project Trapdoor started last August and spanned several months. He said the B.C marijuana trade has increased in sophistication over the years.

"Transfer houses play an integral part of the business. You can liken a transfer house to a grain elevator. Growers bring their product there to be graded," Munro said. "They receive payment for it and arrangements are made to transport the product to the local, national and international markets."

The criminal gangs that use the houses exercise extreme caution, not only worried about police, but about rivals sending designated crews out to steal marijuana and cash. For that reason, the houses usually only keep enough pot on site to fulfill daily orders, Desmarais said.

Munro said the police raided the houses with search warrants April 2, when they saw a man and a woman transferring bags of marijuana between the houses. "These bags were then loaded into vehicles for further distribution," Munro said.

The same day, a woman associated with the Renfrew house was seen loading a duffel bag into her car. Her two kids, aged five and 12, were with her.

"After dropping the older child off at school, she proceeded to the 2700-block of East 16th Avenue, where she was arrested while handing off the duffel bag full of marijuana to another man. This took place while her five-year-old was waiting in the car a few feet away," Munro said. "Both of these children and an older sibling were turned over to the care of the Ministry of Children and Family Development for their safekeeping."

Desmarais said Vancouver police are finding larger, more sophisticated "factory grows" in the city. "For the owners of these grows, it is all about creating an easy, untaxed, very lucrative income stream from the production of marijuana," he said.

He said civil forfeiture has become a critical tool in B.C. to tackle organized crime in cases where laying criminal charges is difficult.

"In our opinion, the B.C. Civil Forfeiture legislation is probably the most robust and effective civil forfeiture legislation in the country," he said. "Our goal though all of this — primarily — is to remove the profit motive of these large-scale commercial marijuana producers."

West Nashville Man Arrested For Growing Marijuana

2009-07-31T04:30:00.002-07:00

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - An officer was responding to an unrelated call on Eastboro Drive when he happened to look next-door and saw marijuana plants growing in the backyard.

He went to house and asked if he could look around. He found 41 pot plants and drug paraphernalia.

Lawrence Barnes, Jr. was charged with drug manufacturing.

Anyone wanting to report drug activity can do so anonymously by calling 244-DOPE.

Los Angeles marijuana store robbed of pot, cash

2009-07-31T04:30:00.001-07:00

07/30/09 3:41 PM PDT
LOS ANGELES — Robbers in ski masks got away with pot and cash in a stickup at a Los Angeles medical marijuana store.
Police spokesman Richard French says three gunmen held up the Gourmet Green Room dispensary shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday.
The robbers took about $15,000 in cash and an undisclosed amount of marijuana and fled in a silver Cadillac driven by a fourth man.
Authorities say customers were in the store at the time but nobody was hurt.
Investigators are trying to determine if the crime is linked to a similar holdup at a medical marijuana facility in Reseda.

Marijuana-laden surfboard seized off Calif. coast

2009-07-31T04:28:00.000-07:00

IMPERIAL BEACH, CALIF. — Two men paddling surfboards off Southern California have been arrested on suspicion of marijuana smuggling.
Customs and Border Protection said in a statement Friday that agents arrested the 27- and 30-year-old men after they were spotted late Thursday on boards about 200 yards off of Imperial Beach, a city just north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
CBP says a helicopter was dispatched to track down the surfers, who were towing a third board piled with 141 pounds marijuana held down with duct tape.
CBP says the men, who were not identified, were illegal immigrants from Mexico.
Another man from Mexico was arrested earlier this month for allegedly trying to make a similar trip.

Large marijuana seizure in Oakland prompts fire concerns

2009-07-31T04:24:00.000-07:00

Posted: 07/30/2009 03:22:25 PM PDT

OAKLAND — At least 50 pounds of harvested marijuana was seized at a Maxwell Park house where the growing operation had electrical overloads that could have ignited a devastating fire capable of consuming other homes, authorities said Thursday.
One man was arrested during the Wednesday afternoon raid at the house in the 4700 block of Meldon Avenue, and another person who was not present also could face charges, police said.
Arrested on suspicion of cultivating marijuana and possession of marijuana for sale was Matthew Quirk, 42. He had a marijuana patient card, but police said the amount seized, which had a street value of at least $150,000, was far more than allowed under city ordinances.
Quirk refused to talk to police and was being held Thursday on $20,000 bail.
Officer Jim Beere, of the vice/child exploitation unit, said that what concerned police and firefighters at the scene was the overloaded electrical circuits at the house and the use of a high-power industrial heater in extremely dry areas of the home.
Firefighters have seen an increase in the number of illegal marijuana grow-related structure blazes, and Beere said they told him that if the house had caught fire, "it could have put the whole neighborhood at risk."
Beere said police recovered a price list from the vehicle Quirk had been driving. Beere said the list stated that an ounce of the marijuana cost between $275 and $300 and that seven grams could
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be bought between $80 and $100.
Beere said the marijuana was being grown inside and outside the house. He said police were tipped off more than a week ago by area residents who said there was a strong odor coming from the house and that there were constant visitors there.
Police put the house under surveillance before getting the search warrant.
Beere said all of the marijuana found was either already packaged for sale or was hanging from hooks where it was being dried by an industrial-type heater. He said the house contained lights, fans, generators, heaters, plant nutrients and other items needed to harvest the marijuana.
Beere said it appeared the house was in the process of being abandoned. Besides the marijuana ready to be transported, police also found packed suitcases inside the house, he said.

Brewer police interrupt marijuana delivery

2009-07-31T04:21:00.001-07:00

BREWER, Maine — Someone from outside of Maine sent about 2 pounds of marijuana to an Old Town resident, who was arrested Wednesday evening when he tried to pick it up, Police Chief Perry Antone said Thursday.

“At some point last night, Brewer Police Department received information that there was a package at a local delivery service that contained suspected marijuana,” he said.

Officers went to the delivery company, which Antone declined to identify, and waited for the package’s recipient to show up.

“The person who expected the package arrived at the delivery service and went inside,” he said, adding that three others stayed in the vehicle the man arrived in.

Just as Christopher Manos, 25, of Old Town began to leave the building, “a person in the car saw one of our officers and they decided to leave.”

Brewer police, including Officer Stephen Boyd, Sgt. Rich Smith, Cpl. Levi Sewell, and Detective Fred Luce, who is an agent with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency task force based in Bangor, stopped the car.

Manos was charged with aggravated trafficking in marijuana, a Class B crime, and was taken to Penobscot County Jail. The other three people in the car were not charged, but as the investigation continues “charges may be pending,” Antone said.

After his arrest, Manos was taken to Penobscot County Jail and was bailed out early Thursday morning on $250 cash, a jail official said.

Antone said the package of marijuana “looked suspicious” but would not give any details about why, and, because of the ongoing investigation, could say only that it came from “an out-of-state address.”

Traffic stop uncovers mobile marijuana grow operation

2009-07-31T04:17:00.000-07:00

Published: Friday, July 31, 2009 1:20 AM CDT
HAMILTON COUNTY — A call to 911 of an erratic driver on Interstate 80 in Hamilton County led to the arrest of a Minnesota man for driving under the influence of drugs and the discovery of a mobile marijuana grow.

According to Deb Collins, spokesperson for the Nebraska State Patrol, shortly after 8:30 a.m., on Wednesday, July 29, an NSP trooper responded to a citizen call of a possible drunk driver in a Ford Taurus eastbound on Interstate 80.

The trooper stopped a vehicle matching the description near the Henderson Interchange, just over the York/Hamilton county line. A search led to the seizure of seven canning jars containing 18 separate packages of medicinal marijuana purchased in California. In the trunk of the vehicle, the trooper located an active marijuana grow, containing 13 marijuana plants. The plants were inside two rubber totes (one inside the other) with a working fan, digital thermometer and fluorescent lights.

The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle, David Herman, 56, of Glenville, Minn., was arrested and taking to the Hamilton County Jail on charges of driving under the influence of drugs, manufacturing marijuana and possession of marijuana over an ounce, less than a pound.

Man arrested in marijuana case

2009-07-30T06:52:00.001-07:00

A Dixon man was arrested by Solano sheriff's officials Tuesday in connection with marijuana cultivation and sales.
David Edward Hull, 58, was linked to 41 marijuana plants, estimated at 4 to 12 feet tall, growing in the backyard of a home in the 500 block of West D Street in Dixon.

Aside from the plants, 1,034 grams of processed marijuana, a scale and packaging material were seized by detectives.

Hull was booked into Solano County Jail and bail was set at $13,000.

Authorities seize $5 million worth of marijuana

2009-07-30T06:50:00.001-07:00

ROCK HILL, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina authorities have seized $5 million worth of marijuana plants that were growing in fields in a northern county.

The Herald of Rock Hill reported Wednesday that more than 2,500 plants, found in Chester County, have been confiscated and destroyed. No one has been arrested for growing the drug.

The bust was part of an eradication effort in York, Chester, Lancaster and Fairfield counties.

State Law Enforcement Division Narcotics Lt. Max Dorsey says marijuana growing operations have been increasing in the area for several years.

Last month, authorities seized 11,000 marijuana plants in Chester County worth $22 million.

Elsewhere Tuesday, officers seized 128 marijuana plants from a field in Hampton County. Sheriff's spokeswoman Shellie Murdaugh says they were worth $256,000.

Agents seize 6,000 pounds of marijuana in Sun City

2009-07-30T06:47:00.000-07:00

Police: Man was growing marijuana

2009-07-23T06:42:00.000-07:00

WILLINGBORO - A township man was charged Tuesday with growing marijuana inside his home in the Hawthorne Park section.

Wayne Queen, 46, of Holy-oke Lane, was charged after officers from the township, the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office, and the state police marijuana eradication unit raided his home. Officers seized various plants, chemicals, ultraviolet lights used for growing plants indoors, drug paraphernalia and three imitation handguns.
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The number and estimated value of the marijuana plants were not released.

Queen was charged with operating a drug production facility, possession of marijuana over 50 grams, manufacturing, distribution and dispensing of drugs, possession of weapons for an unlawful purpose, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

He was lodged in Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly on $150,000 bail.

Local marijuana dealer takes a hit, calls police

2009-07-23T06:40:00.001-07:00

Andrew Rozell made a 911 call at 3:41 p.m. Saturday to Lowell police claiming his marijuana was stolen at gunpoint.

According to court documents, Rozell told police officers that Brian Otieno, a friend, asked him about getting marijuana, and Rozell said he BENTONVILLE - A Lowell man recently reinquired about one-quarter pound of the drug and agreed to sell it to Otieno for $350.

Otieno and two other men came to Rozell's apartment to complete the drug transaction, but once inside his apartment, one of the men pulled a gun on Rozell, an affidavit in the case states. Rozell claims he was ordered to get on the floor, and when he was down, one of the suspects kicked him in the head. Otieno then told the man to stop kicking Rozell, the affidavit states.

Rozell claimed the men grabbed the marijuana from the counter and left, but threatened to kill him if he came outside, according to court documents.

Lowell Police Chief Joe Landers contacted Otieno by phone and told him police needed to talk with him concerning an incident with Rozell. Otieno claimed he had not been in Lowell; then Otieno laughed and said, "I think it is crazy that I gotta talk to the police because some white boy got ripped off for some dope," the affidavit states.

Police were able to identify a second suspect as Charles Joseph Jackson. Jackson's photograph was shown to Rozell, who claimed Jackson was the one who pointed the gun at him and kicked him in the head, according to the affidavit.

Jackson and Otieno were arrested for aggravated robbery, a class Y felony, which is punishable with a sentence of 10 to 40 years or life in prison.

Jackson, 21, of Bentonville is being held in the Benton County Jail in lieu of $30,000 bond. Otieno, 20, is being held in the county jail in lieu of $25,000 bond.

Police have not identified the third suspect, according to Landers.

Landers said it was an unusual case.

The police chief said Rozell was not arrested, and the decision on whether Rozell will face any criminal charges rests with prosecutors.

$1 billion in marijuana seized in California

2009-07-23T06:35:00.000-07:00

(CNN) -- Authorities have seized $1 billion worth of marijuana plants and have arrested 82 Mexican nationals with ties to drug cartels in the first week and half of an effort to eradicate marijuana fields from California's Fresno County, the county sheriff's office said Wednesday.
The 82 suspects arrested so far have links to Mexican drug cartels.

Operation Save Our Sierra began July 13 and involves local, state and federal agencies working together to remove marijuana growing operations, investigate and arrest drug traffickers, and remove infrastructure on public lands in Fresno County, a news release said.

"This is a high-intensity drug trafficking area," U.S. Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske said in a phone interview. "I think what should be highlighted here is the local authorities' work to reclaim the land from the drug traffickers."

The 82 suspects arrested so far have links to Mexican drug cartels, local authorities said, though they did not release further details.

Eastern Fresno County, where the seizures have been made, is mountainous and sparsely populated. Growers exploit the area's streams, rivers and lakes to create elaborate drip lines for their plants. A mature plant can be worth $4,000, said Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims.

"Fresno County is roughly the size of Connecticut, and the drug traffickers target these areas because they know there is not that significant of a law-enforcement presence," Mims said. "The chances of getting caught are slim."

"The bottom line is our public lands are being destroyed by foreign drug trafficking and heavily armed Mexican cartels," George Anderson of the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday at a news conference highlighting the seizures.
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The operation is the largest in Fresno County history and one of the largest in California, Mims said.

"What makes this operation unique is the approach: prevention, enforcement, eradication and reclamation," she said.

Intelligence gathered for the operation began in February, with community presentations about prevention. The effort is now focused on shutting down the at least 70 marijuana farms identified by local authorities.

The operation is expected to continue into November, when colder weather makes marijuana growing more difficult.

At least 330,000 marijuana plants have been seized, Mims said.

"This shows what can be accomplished at the local level when agencies work together," Kerlikowske said.

Kerlikowske, who flew to Fresno County on Wednesday and toured a marijuana farm, said his office is one of the primary sponsors of the operation.

Man charged in discovery of indoor marijuana plants

2009-07-22T11:38:00.000-07:00

Posted on: Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Man charged in discovery of indoor marijuana plants

A Kailua, Kona, man has been charged in connection with a marijuana growing operation.

Vice officers serving a search warrant Friday on a Hau Nani Street home in Kailua discovered an indoor marijuana growing operation.

They arrested Ryan Costello, 27, and Sabrina Costello, 22.

After conferring with prosecutors, police released Sabrina Costello without charges.

Ryan Costello is charged with two counts of second-degree commercial promotion of marijuana, five counts of drug paraphernalia, two counts of second-degree promotion of a harmful drug and one count each of first-degree promotion of a detrimental drug and third-degree promotion of a detrimental drug.

His bail was set at $33,000.

Man arrested after police intercept 9 pounds of marijuana

2009-07-22T11:34:00.000-07:00

An Evansville man was arrested Tuesday after police intercepted a package sent from Minnesota containing more than 9 pounds of marijuana, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Brian D. Reyes, 22, is facing preliminary charges of conspiracy to deal marijuana and possession of marijuana, both felonies. He is due in court today.

After obtaining a search warrant and determining the package contained the drug, officials with the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force resealed it and delivered it to its intended destination - an apartment on Spring Valley Road near Green River Road.

Detectives placed it on the door step and then set up surveillance to see who picked it up, according to a probable cause affidavit. No one did so after about an hour. Authorities then terminated the operation, retrieved the package and started to drive away.

Police say Reyes then appeared from a nearby apartment, showing "great and urgent interest in the fact (that the detective) had picked up the package."

As the detective left the area with the marijuana, Reyes began following at a high rate of speed as though he was pursuing the vehicle, the affidavit said. Police say Reyes eventually caught up with the detective's car, then followed him through several side streets and finally parked nearby when the detective stopped on Washington Avenue.

Authorities arrested Reyes as he was approaching the detective's vehicle.

According to the affidavit, Reyes said he was watching because he knew the package was being delivered to his neighbor. He denied following the detective but later said he intended only to get the license plate so the neighbor could file a police report, the affidavit said.

The neighbor later told investigators Reyes had asked to have the marijuana delivered to the neighbor's residence because Reyes did not want it delivered to his own, the affidavit said. The neighbor was not arrested.

In all, authorities say the marijuana weighed 9.2 pounds.

Major marijuana confiscation

2009-07-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

Wed Jul 22, 2009, 08:55 AM PDT

Gridley, Calif. -
Today the Butte County Sheriff’s Marijuana Unit conducted raids on two illegal marijuana gardens in the Forest Ranch area. The Marijuana Unit was assisted by agents from the Butte Interagency Narcotics Task Force and sheriff’s deputies. The two gardens were located by aerial reconnaissance flights earlier this year. The first marijuana garden was located in a remote area near Big Chico Creek above Garland Road. When officers entered the marijuana garden area they approached the kitchen area and an unknown number of suspects fled down the hill. Officers attempted to track the suspects but after about an hour the search was terminated. Two tents were found in this marijuana garden operation along with a processing area for processing the marijuana. No firearms were found in this marijuana garden. Officers eradicated 6,041 marijuana plants from this garden. The marijuana plants were nearly ready for harvest and contained a large amount of “Bud” on the plants. Had these plants been harvested they could have yielded an estimated $24,164,000.00 at the street level.
The second marijuana garden was located in a remote area off of Cabernet Way near Little Chico Creek. Upon entering the garden area and clearing it officers didn’t find any suspects or tents. There was a makeshift kitchen area and areas had been cleared out possibly for tents at one time based on how they appeared. Officers found that a number of the plants had already had their tops cut off or had been harvested. Other marijuana plants appeared ready for harvest and had been recently watered. Officers eradicated 2,577 marijuana plants from this site. The estimated street value of that many plants is about $10,308,000.00. No weapons were found in the marijuana garden.
Both of these marijuana gardens were being watered from gravity feed watering systems that were siphoning water from nearby creeks. The natural vegetation had been cut out these areas and has made them prone to erosion. They also had littered trash throughout the areas, which will impact the wildlife. Both of these gardens covered about 3-4 acres of land.
Based on current trends it appears the size and number of marijuana gardens are increasing in Butte County. The Marijuana Unit is actively investigating a number of other marijuana gardens as well as receiving numerous tips from citizens.
If anyone has information on suspicious activity or persons related to marijuana they are encouraged to contact the Butte County Sheriff’s Marijuana Unit at 538-7389. Citizens can remain anonymous.

Police discover large marijuana-growing operation in Manchester Township

2009-07-22T11:30:00.001-07:00

Wednesday July 22, 2009, 10:24 AM

A substantial marijuana-growing operation was discovered behind a residence in rural Manchester Township by a joint narcotics enforcement team Tuesday afternoon, police said.

Investigators with The Livingston and Washtenaw Narcotics Enforcement Team, using a helicopter provided by the Michigan National Guard, located the large field of marijuana plants in the area of Ely Road near Sharon Hollow Road, said Lt. Monica Yesh of the Michigan State Police.

Police found more than 2,000 plants, many of them between 4- and 6-feet tall, as well as other marijuana in different stages of cultivation inside the residence.

"It's one of the largest outdoor growing operations LAWNET has dealt with," Yesh said.

No arrests were reportedly made and investigators will return to the scene today, officials said.

The enforcement detail is part of the annual Operation HEMP, geared at locating and eradicating grow operations statewide.

Trooper Finds 116 Pounds Of Marijuana Drivers Pulled Over For Speeding, Trooper Says

2009-07-22T11:28:00.000-07:00

BUFFALO COUNTY, Neb. -- A trooper in Buffalo County, Neb., found 116 pounds of marijuana in three bales after making a traffic stop on two vehicles.
The vehicles were speeding Tuesday on Interstate 80, said the Nebraska State Patrol.
The trooper smelled marijuana and spotted it on the front seat in one of the vehicles, the NSP said. A K9 sniffed out the drugs in the trunk of one of the cars, which were traveling together, the NSP said.
Victoria Gregory, 42, of Bay Shore, N.Y., was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. The driver of the other car, 27-year-old Lonnie Walker, of Palm Bay, Fla., was also charged.
Troopers said the marijuana was headed from Arizona to New York.

State police find guns, marijuana plants at Eastern Shore daycare

2009-07-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

July 22, 2009
State police arrested one man, seized 10 guns and 74 marijuana plants at a daycare on the Eastern Shore on July 16.

The members of the Eastern Shore Drug Task Force were searching for a wanted suspect on the 7000 block of Reedtown Lane in Eastville when they noticed marijuana in the backyard of an adjacent home that is used as a daycare.

Police arrested Deandre Dunton, 30 and charged him with manufacturing marijuana, possession of a firearm while possessing five or more pounds of marijuana and possession of a sawed-off shotgun.

Officials say the investigation remains ongoing and additional charges are pending.

Cops uproot marijuana plants in Sudlon II

2009-07-21T12:56:00.001-07:00

CEBU, Philippines - The campaign of the police against marijuana is getting more risky nowadays.

This after operatives of Cebu City Mobile Patrol Group found booby traps installed in a lot where they discovered and uprooted around 450 fully grown marijuana plants.

CCMPG personnel led by Sr. Insp. Fabio Cedeño arrived at the area in sitio Kantipla, barangay Sudlon II, Cebu City past 3 p.m. the other day and recovered the marijuana plants. The area is located several kilometers away from the main road.

But on the way to the plantation, the police noticed a manhole where several wooden spears were placed inside, which one can injure or even kill anyone who falls into it.

Moments later, the police also noticed a rope on the ground that they found out as another set of trap. When they tested it, a bunch of wooden spears tied together came out from a bushy area.

Luckily, nobody was hurt during the operation and no suspect was also arrested by the police.

CCMG desk officer SPO1 Godofredo Piquero said an informant approached Sudlon II barangay officials about the marijuana plantation. This prompted them to call up the police who then proceeded to the area.

Cebu City Police Office Director Patrocinio Comendador said he had received the same report about the traps, which are a traditional strategy in protecting a marijuana plantation.

Comendador admitted that it is difficult to put down those behind the marijuana plantations.

Agents seize marijuana after shootout

2009-07-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

LORDSBURG, N.M. (AP) - A group of people spotted walking across the desert near the border in southwestern New Mexico left behind more than 560 pounds of marijuana after shooting at U.S. Border Patrol agents.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says the agents first spotted the group Monday about two miles north of the international border. The suspected smugglers shot at the agents as they approached, and the agents returned fire, causing the group to scatter.

No one was believed to be injured during the shootout.

Agents found bundles of contraband that had been left by the group near the Arizona-New Mexico line, and one Mexican national was arrested. Agents were searching for the rest of the group.

Agents seized another 355 pounds of marijuana in the area last Thursday and 285 pounds over the weekend.

Marijuana plants found in two homes

2009-07-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

Two people have been arrested in Rock County after police found nearly 150 marijuana plants and harvested marijuana in their homes.

Arthur R. Pierce, 61, and Wendy M. Straka, 40, who both live at the 5507 Kennedy Road near Janesville, in the town of Rock, have been tentatively charged with manufacture/delivery of marijuana, two counts each of maintaining a drug trafficking place and possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Their home and another home, at 1929 Happy Hollow Road in the town of Harmony and owned by Straka, were searched simultaneously at 7 a.m. Monday by the Rock County Special Investigation Unit.

Sheriff Bob Spoden said police found 147 marijuana plants and 1,727 grams of processed marijuana. A loaded .22-caliber pistol also was seized, as was an assortment of growing equipment and drug paraphernalia.

Jury convicts man in motorcyle club marijuana case

2009-07-21T08:48:00.001-07:00

Rudolph Lynch faces eight years in prison
Monday, July 20, 2009 11:49 AM

Rudolph Lynch, center, in court today with his attorneys, Dan Sabol, left, and W. Martin Midian.
A Columbus man caught accepting more than 200 pounds of marijuana in crates delivered to a motorcycle club was found guilty of drug possession today by a Franklin County jury.

Before Rudolph Lynch was brought to trial, though, one of his co-defendants was murdered and another was sentenced to prison.

The trial before Common Pleas Judge David W. Fais took three days.

Lynch, 42, of Olympic Club Drive on the Far East Side, will be sentenced Thursday and faces a mandatory eight years in prison and a mandatory fine of as much as $15,000. Jurors found Lynch not guilty of a drug trafficking charge after deliberating for more than eight hours.

Lynch, who had been free on bail, was immediately taken to jail.

Prosecutors said Lynch was with two other men on June 21, 2008, when boxes on a pallet marked "motorcyle parts" were delivered by undercover officers at the Joker's Wrath Motor Club, 368 W. Park Ave. in Franklinton.

Officers had been tipped off to the pallet in advance and sent in a SWAT team to monitor its delivery. The boxes contained 230 pounds of wrapped marijuana, according to a search warrant.

A police officer drove the truck.

Nearly Half a Ton of Marijuana Seized From Fishing Boat

2009-07-21T08:45:00.001-07:00

SAN DIEGO -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents seized almost half a ton of marijuana Saturday, worth about $566,400, from a private fishing boat.

Agents spotted the 21-foot boat at the entrance to the bay in San Diego riding suspiciously low in the water.

They stopped the boat to question the people on board, a 20 year old female U.S. citizen and a 48 year old male U.S. citizen. Both are residents of Phoenix.

After noting inconsistencies in their story, agents brought the boat in for further investigation, including a screening by a narcotics dog.

They found 221 packages of marijuana, weighing 944 pounds, hidden in the hull of the boat.

CBP seized the boat and narcotics, and the two accused smugglers were turned over to agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Priority Mail delivery nets huge pot bust in Newburgh

2009-07-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

Times Herald-Record
Posted: July 21, 2009 - 2:00 AM
CITY OF NEWBURGH — City police and a federal agent swooped in on two apartments Monday afternoon, arrested three people and confiscated the most marijuana any of them had ever seen in Newburgh.

They laid the drugs on a table in the police station — 46 pounds all together. Two long, rectangular blocks weighed 16 pounds each. A third block, shaped like a giant cube, weighed 20 pounds. The smell filled the first floor of the building. At an estimated street value of $1,200-$1,500 a pound, police said, the stash would have sold for $55,200-$69,000.

"Biggest since I've been chief," Newburgh police Chief Eric Paolilli said. "That's a lot."

It arrived by Priority Mail. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service — the federal law enforcement agency that polices the nation's postal system — had tracked the packages from California as part of an ongoing narcotics investigation, said James Buthorn, a case agent based out of Manhattan. The blocks were covered with dish detergent and dryer sheets to mask the smell and then wrapped tightly in green cellophane. By the time the boxes arrived in Newburgh, police were waiting with what are called "anticipatory warrants" to arrest the recipients and confiscate the drugs.

Police arrested three Newburgh-area residents on felony charges of criminal possession of marijuana. At 308 Lake St., they arrested 22-year-old Evan Gonzalez of Crown Boulevard and 19-year-old Dwayne Cobbs of Leslie Drive. At 222 Lake Dr., police arrested the resident, 56-year-old Elovistine Smith. All three were held in city lockup pending arraignment. The investigation is continuing.

198 Marijuana Plants Found In Home Man, Woman Face Manufacturing Charges

2009-07-19T19:19:00.000-07:00

NASHVILLE -- Nashville police said they found nearly 200 marijuana plants in a Lebanon Pike couple's home on Sunday.
According to a release, a citizen's tip led police to the home located at 2001 Lebanon Pike in Nashville, which is next door to a day care center.
IMAGES: Police Sieze 198 Marijuana Plants
In total, police said they found 198 plants in the home after Hermitage Precinct undercover officers received permission to search the home from one of the occupants.

Both of the occupants are facing charges of manufacturing marijuana.
Police said 38-year-old Steven Hooven has previous convictions for felony marijuana possession, unlawful weapon possession and driving under the influence. He is being held in lieu of $75,000 bond.
The other occupant, 28-year-old Michelle Campbell, was not immediately taken into custody in order for her to make custody arrangements for her young daughter. Instead, an arrest warrant for manufacturing marijuana charges has been issued.

Body, marijuana grow operation found at Pinebrook Hills home

2009-07-19T19:18:00.000-07:00

BOULDER, Colo. — Investigators from the Boulder County sheriff's and coroner's offices are trying to determine what killed a 20-year-old man whose body was found late Saturday in a Pinebrook Hills home that contained a large marijuana grow operation.

The man was identified as Jonathan D. Cooper-Sidman, of Boulder. The Boulder County Coroner's Office performed an autopsy Sunday. The cause of death is pending laboratory tests.

Foul play is not suspected.

Dispatchers received a 911 call just before midnight reporting a person not breathing and with no pulse, according to sheriff's Sgt. Tom McGrath.

When deputies arrived at the residence, the address of which has not yet been released, they found "a large marijuana grow" inside.

"It is not believed the marijuana grow had anything to do with the party's death," McGrath wrote.

Cooper-Sidman was visiting friends at the home, McGrath said in a news release.

Henry County authorities seize $2 million in marijuana plants

2009-07-19T19:16:00.000-07:00

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: July 19, 2009

COLLINSVILLE-- Authorities have seized $2 million worth of marijuana plants that were growing in Henry County.

The Henry Sheriff's Office said 500 plants worth $1.5 million were seized in an operation by local, state and federal authorities Wednesday and Thursday. An additional 100 plants were seized in other operations.

No arrests had been made, but Sheriff's Sgt. Curtis Spence said the case remains under investigation.

Virginia State Police and the Virginia National Guard provided helicopters for the operation.

Police bust elaborate marijuana growing operation in Spencer County

2009-07-08T15:59:00.002-07:00

06:57 PM EDT on Wednesday, July 8, 2009

(WHAS11) - Police in Spencer County, Kentucky are looking for a person behind and elaborate drug operation.

Police say the suspect had a sophisticated marijuana set up inside a house in Mount Eden.

That's about 28 miles south-east of Louisville.

The sheriff's department says they've taken about $100,000 worth of drugs off the streets.

They've made the bust and now they're looking for their guy.

Police say that each of the 100 plants they found is worth about $1,000.

Authorities say they made the marijuana bust in Mount Eden at a home on Hickory Ridge Road thanks to an informant.

But when they arrived at the house, it was empty, so the suspect is still on the loose.

But the sheriff's department says he knew exactly what he was doing.

Spencer County Deputy sheriff Kyle Benett says they have seen an increase indoor marijuana grow Operations.

Police hope to make an arrest soon.

2K Plants Seized During Marijuana Raid Raid Took Place In San Benito County

2009-07-08T15:59:00.001-07:00

POSTED: 2:06 pm PDT July 8, 2009
UPDATED: 2:47 pm PDT July 8, 2009

SAN BENITO COUNTY, Calif. -- Law enforcement agents seized 32,000 plants from three different marijuana growing operations in southern San Benito County on Tuesday.
The plants had a potential street value of $6.5 million, officials from the San Benito County Sherriff's Office said.
The plants were first spotted by authorities during flyovers by the National Guard.
The plants were seized during a eight-hour period and buried at an undisclosed location.
No arrests were made during the raid, which included members of the San Jose Bureau of Fish and Game, the National Park Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Bureau of Land Management.

911 call yields 800 marijuana plants

2009-07-08T15:56:00.000-07:00

Published: July 08, 2009 3:00 PM
Updated: July 08, 2009 3:01 PM

A "dropped" 911 call resulted in the discovery of a large marijuana grow-op Tuesday evening.

On July 7 at 8:45 p.m. Langley RCMP attended a residence in the 24300-block of 57 Avenue for a dropped 911 call.

A single male answered the door and during a search to confirm the wellbeing of any occupants a marijuana grow operation was discovered in the basement of the residence.

A search warrant was subsequently obtained and police dismantled the grow operation and seized nearly 800 marijuana plants.

Police arrested a 32-year-old New York male for Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking. He was held in police custody overnight and appeared in Surrey Provincial Court on July 8.

Deputies bust Santa Cruz Mountains marijuana garden, but not before growers get part of the crop

2009-07-07T07:43:00.000-07:00

Posted: 07/07/2009 06:25:27 AM PDT

SUMMIT -- Sheriff's deputies and state drug agents ripped out marijuana plants worth more than $1 million from an illegal garden in a remote area of the Soquel Demonstration Forest on Monday, but not before the growers had harvested about half of the pot and fled.

After the law enforcement crew hacked down about 4,700 budding plants, a helicopter hauled out five large nets of green shoots. Most of the plants' tops had been lopped off prior to the morning raid, an indication that the growers had gotten their crop in the ground early and already took one cutting from the plants, according to Sgt. Mark Yanez, head of the Sheriff's Office Narcotic Enforcement Team.

The early harvest method is something that drug agents from the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, a state Department of Justice program, said they are seeing across the region. Drug agents attribute the trend to marijuana growers adjusting to law enforcement.

"We're seeing it everywhere," said Dan Jackson, regional operations commander for CAMP in the Central Coast and the Central Valley.

Growers are putting their crops in the ground earlier -- the plants uprooted Monday were likely started in early March, as opposed to late April in years past -- then cutting the marijuana stands mid-summer before cops come through or water runs out, according to Sgt. Steve Carney, who once headed the Sheriff's Office drug team and was out on Monday's raid.

"They've got a guarantee," Carney said.

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"That's why they top the plants once."
Yanez estimated the growers got away with marijuana worth $1 million to $3 million on the street, probably in the past two weeks. Deputies scouted the marijuana garden and two other sites in late June, which likely spooked the growers and led to the early harvest. The other sites were also cleaned out in advance of the raid.

"We had two other gardens, but they already harvested them," Yanez said.

Monday, four sheriff's deputies and a crew from the state ran the raid. A privately contracted helicopter pilot dropped nine officers into the garden using a 100-foot line dangling from the chopper. In pairs and wearing harnesses, the cops clipped onto the line and were flown 1.3 miles from a clear bluff in the Summit area of the Santa Cruz Mountains to the south-facing hillside where the gardens were terraced into the hillside.

The gardens were rigged with a drip-irrigation system and the crew members reported finding two campsites as well as a cache of pesticides and fertilizer in the area. Based on the setup, Yanez suspected the garden was the work of a Mexican drug cartel.

In less than two hours, the "short haulers," the nickname for cops who do these operations, had hacked down plants in three separate plots and piled them into large nets that were then hooked to the helicopter and flown back to the landing zone on the bluff.

The raid was the first marijuana-eradication effort in the county this year.

Later in the afternoon Monday, the sheriff's deputies hiked into a marijuana garden in a remote area of the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park and eradicated 106 plants from two plots, according to Yanez.

Unlike most of the pot gardens the Sheriff's Office targets, the small grow in Nisene Marks likely was planted by a local, Yanez said. A hiker tipped off deputies to the garden, which was deep in the forest off Buzzard Lagoon Road.

The grower had blazed a trail straight down a slope, hung irrigation lines across a gully and through trees, and hauled in an irrigation tank to water the plants. The garden also had lots of pesticides and rodent traps, Yanez said.

The environmental degradation caused by illegal marijuana gardens -- regardless of their size -- is one of the reasons CAMP agents spend three months every summer targeting large grows across the state, according to Jackson.

"The biggest thing is the destruction of our public lands," he said, listing off the damage gardens cause, including water diversion, animal poaching, the use of illegal pesticides and littering. "Those things are as big or bigger than the fact they're growing an illegal drug."

Also, the majority of the drug cartels funding marijuana cultivation also are involved in trafficking methamphetamine and cocaine, and the quick cash marijuana can provide finances those other operations, Jackson said.

Last year, sheriff's deputies seized more than 29,000 pot plants during the outdoor growing season in Santa Cruz County. From April to the end of October, deputies raided 28 outdoor cultivation site. No arrests were made during any of those busts.

No arrests were made at either garden raided Monday. The marijuana plants seized will be buried at the county dump.

The outdoor growing season will continue in the county until the rainy season begins in the fall.

Ingham Co. deputy finds 100 pounds of marijuana

2009-07-07T07:42:00.000-07:00

An Ingham County sheriff's deputy making a traffic stop found 100 pounds of marijuana in a vehicle Monday, according to authorities.

Ingham County Sheriff Gene Wriggelsworth is expected to hold a news conference today at 11 a.m. to discuss the find.

Police seize 902 marijuana plants in Spencer raid

2009-07-05T07:37:00.000-07:00

THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR • July 5, 2009

SPENCER — Authorities say they seized 902 marijuana plants during a raid on an indoor growing operation in Owen County.
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The Sheriff's Department says a four-month investigation by Deputy Erich Teuton and Indiana State Police officers led to the seizure, which began about 9 a.m. Thursday.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents, Indiana conservation officers and officials with the county prosecutor's office joined deputies and State Police in serving a search warrant at the growing operation.

A sheriff's news release did not disclose the exact location of the raid, nor did it say whether any arrests were made.

Two vehicles were seized, the release said.

Fire investigation uncovers possible marijuana operation

2009-07-03T09:26:00.001-07:00

It started as a simple fire investigation.

Now, Metro is looking into a marijuana growing operation.

Two buildings at the Desert Tides Apartment Complex were evacuated Thursday afternoon when crews found drugs and a suspicious device inside a third floor unit.

Smoke and water were coming out of the building; it turns out the fire started in the kitchen.

The device was not a threat.

The woman who lives in the third floor unit was taken to the hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.

18 charged after metro-wide raids to seize marijuana

2009-07-03T09:24:00.000-07:00

Ring is 'one of the largest' in state, says metro sheriff
By David Hanners

Updated: 07/02/2009 09:57:07 PM CDT

Federal officials proclaimed Thursday that they'd charged 18 people in a sophisticated marijuana-growing operation that used several houses around the Twin Cities.

Law enforcement officials claimed they seized more than $6 million worth of marijuana plants, $271,000 in cash, 20 vehicles and $25,000 in gold and diamonds.

According to an affidavit by Anthony J. Fletcher, a member of a Drug Enforcement Administration task force, drug agents with search warrants searched several homes Tuesday. He said they found active growing operations at six of the homes and that officers seized 3,309 marijuana plants.

The largest raid was at a home in Coon Rapids, where 923 plants were found.

Plants were also seized in single-family homes in Anoka, Lake St. Croix Beach, Ramsey, Savage, Shakopee and Elk River.

Fletcher said they found evidence of "dismantled" marijuana-growing operations in three other homes in St. Paul Park, Cottage Grove and St. Michael.

He wrote in the affidavit that at the home in Cottage Grove, agents found "approximately 500 garbage bags with soil residue," as well as "approximately 30 garbage bags filled with soil."

In the house in St. Michael, officers found "a chart with what appeared to be a watering and feeding schedule," as well as "over 50 discarded marijuana root balls."

Agents also found that the homes had been wired to steal electricity, the affidavit says. Indoor marijuana-growing operations employ powerful lamps and other
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electrical gear, and because investigators often spot such operations by looking for addresses that use lots of electricity, some clandestine growers resort to tapping the electric line before it connects to the home's meter.

That way, they get electricity without it being recorded by the meter.

Fletcher said agents believed the defendants used a home in the 7200 block of Bryant Avenue in Brooklyn Center as a meeting place and distribution center, and it was kept under surveillance for several weeks. Several members of the alleged conspiracy were seen coming and going at the address, Fletcher claimed.

Hennepin County property-tax records list the owner of the home as Karen N. Tran and show that she bought the property in December 2005 for $220,000. Federal officials did not say who Karen N. Tran is, and she is not named in the criminal complaint.

Although federal officials refused to answer questions about the charges, they issued a news release announcing the criminal complaint. In it, Gary Olenkiewicz, who heads the DEA's Chicago office, was quoted as saying there was a "disturbing trend of indoor marijuana-growing operations surfacing in Minnesota."

Hennepin County Sheriff Richard Stanek was quoted in a news release as saying that investigators had dismantled "one of the largest drug operations of its kind in Minnesota." But when asked for an interview, his office said federal officials had barred him from talking to the media about the case.

Similarly, the office of U.S. Attorney Frank McGill refused requests for interviews. Although a spokesman did say the investigation began in February, he declined to say how long the alleged growing operation was in business, how much marijuana it might have produced and whether the harvested product was sold locally or shipped elsewhere.

Stanek's office did claim the growing operation could have produced more than $24 million worth of marijuana in a year.

Those named in the federal complaint are from nine Minnesota cities, mostly Twin Cities suburbs.

All were charged with a single count of conspiracy to manufacture 1,000 or more marijuana plants. A conviction on the charge can carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Some defendants made initial appearances Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Jeffrey Keyes in federal court in St. Paul. The judge granted a request by prosecutors that all be held in custody, but Keyes scheduled detention hearings on each for Wednesday.

David Hanners can be reached at 612-338-6516.

THE SUSPECTS

The 18 suspects charged by the U.S. attorney's office are from nine Minnesota cities:

Blaine: Kevin Dinh Phan, 43 Woodbury: Dat Thai Tran, 27 New Hope: Annie Huyen Vu, 36 Brooklyn Center: Johnny Cuong Tran, 36; Kenny Thai Tran, 25; and Hoa Thai Tran, 22 Savage: Tuan Ngoc Pham, 39; Doai Long Hoang, 40; and Thai Van Ngo, 34 Brooklyn Park: Vinh Xuan Hoang, 32; Phung Duc Hoang, 29; and Minh Duong, 34 Maple Grove: Tuan Van Nguyen, 41; and Nhuan Van Nguyen, 58 Shakopee: Phuong The Cong, 28; and Timothy Quang Tran, 41 Austin: Winston Nguyen, 32; and Hao Thi Doan, 36

Smugglers abandon $1 million worth of marijuana in Starr County

2009-07-03T09:23:00.000-07:00

July 3, 2009 - 10:15 AM
By ANA LEY, The Monitor

STARR COUNTY -- Border Patrol agents seized more than $1 million worth of marijuana Wednesday night near Los Barreras.

The agents spotted a group of smugglers carrying bundles away from the Rio Grande, the U.S. Border Patrol said in a news release.

When the agents approached the subjects, they dropped their load and fled south toward Mexico.

Agents searched the immediate area and found 16 bundles of marijuana. The drugs weighed about 1,304 pounds.

The drugs were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Police seize more than 1,000 marijuana plants in single bust

2009-07-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

Date: 2009-07-03
On Tuesday June 30, officers from the City of Kawartha Lakes Detachment stopped a cube van on Kirkfield Road. As a result of the stop, officers ended up seizing more than 100 marijuana plants.

Later that evening officers from the City of Kawartha Lakes/Haliburton County Crime Unit, along with uniform officers from the City of Kawartha Lakes Detachment, searched a home at 2563 Kirkfield Rd.

In total, officers seized 1,012 marijuana plants with an estimated value of $500,000. Officers also seized equipment used at the site such and heaters and grow lights.

Officers from the Kawartha Combined Forces Drug Unit are also assisting in the investigation which is ongoing. One man has been charged at the present time with drug related offences.

Marijuana grow op worth half a million, say cops

2009-07-01T04:49:00.000-07:00

A 47-year-old Wallaceburg-area man is facing drug and theft charges resulting from an investigation into the theft of hydro.

Chatham-Kent police said during a Criminal Code search warrant at a McCreary Line residence on Wednesday, a hydro bypass and an indoor marijuana grow operation were located.

Police seized 566 marijuana plants at various stages of growth with a potential street value of $566,000 along with 28 pounds of processed marijuana.

Police said two ATVs were also seized. Yesterday, police charged the accused

with production of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking, theft over $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime.

The accused was released with a future court date, police said

Marijuana seized at checkpoints

2009-07-01T04:48:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

FALFURRIAS — U.S. Border Patrol canine teams help to seize almost 4,000 pounds of marijuana hidden in asparagus and potatoes Monday at the Falfurrias and Sarita checkpoints.

Canines alerted agents at the Falfurrias checkpoint to more than 2,000 pounds of the drug in a load of asparagus, according to a news release by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

At the Sarita checkpoint, authorities say a man attempted to smuggle 1,903 pounds of marijuana in a tractor-trailer full of potatoes.

Combined, the drugs are worth more than $3 million on the street, according to the release.

The Drug Enforcement Administration took custody of the suspects, marijuana and tractor-trailers.

CBP seize $501,000 of marijuana at Douglas Port

2009-07-01T04:46:00.001-07:00

Wednesday, June 3, 2009 4:13 PM MDT

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers stopped a marijuana smuggling attempt when they seized $501,000 of marijuana.

On Saturday, May 23 at about 4 p.m., CBP Officers became suspicious of a 2002 F-150 that was carrying a complete living room set of furniture.

The truck was being driven by a 27-year-old man from Las Vegas Nevada. CBP Officers searched the vehicle and discovered packages concealed in the upholstery of the furniture. CBP Officers seized more than 300 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $501,000.

CBP Officers seized the vehicle and marijuana. The Las Vegas man was turned over to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further investigation.

A criminal complaint is simply the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt

Another smuggling attempt nets $183,000 in drugs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers stopped a marijuana smuggling attempt when they seized $183,000 of marijuana.

On Friday the 22nd at about noon, CBP Officers became suspicious of a 1996 F-150 that was being driven by a 46-year-old man from Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico. CBP Officers searched the vehicle and discovered packages concealed in all 4 tires the vehicle. CBP Officers seized more than 100 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $183,000.

CBP Officers seized the vehicle and marijuana. The Agua Prieta man was turned over to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further investigation.

Marijuana grow house earns Bolton man five years

2009-07-01T04:42:00.000-07:00

Jun 30, 2009 @ 11:41 PM
Hartford, Conn
Quyet “Alex” Van Le, 31, of Danbury and Bolton, was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for operating a marijuana grow house in Bolton, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Nora R. Dannehy.

Van Le was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford.

On Jan. 7, Le pleaded guilty to one count of manufacture and possession with intent to distribute 100 or more marijuana plants. Le was growing marijuana plants at 16 Enrico Road in Bolton, where he sometimes lived, records show. He was arrested July 15, 2008, in possession of 240 mature marijuana plants at the Bolton residence.

He has been detained since his arrest.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian P. Leaming and Geoffrey M. Stone.

Police seize nearly a ton of marijuana at San Juan stash house

2009-07-01T04:41:00.001-07:00

June 30, 2009

SAN JUAN - Police found nearly a ton of marijuana at a stash house here Monday evening, officials said.

The drugs were found at a residence at 1801 W. Texas Ave., San Juan Police Chief Juan Gonzalez said. Officers went to the house about 6:20 p.m. because investigators had received "credible information through various agencies" about the location, the chief said.

San Juan police officers and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents knocked on the home's door and a man inside let them in. Once inside the home, officer and agents found packing tape, boxes and other items they suspect of being used for storing and transporting drugs.

"The homeowner has a previous drug history," Gonzalez said.

A narcotics detector dog sniffed out nine bundles of marijuana inside the house and 56 bundles in a van parked outside.

In total, authorities seized 1,855 pounds of drugs with an estimated street value of $371,000.

Police arrested five people found at the residence, including the home's owner, Jose Alfredo Juarez, 47, and his son, Jose Alfredo Juarez Jr., 23. Also arrested were Gabriel Cabrera, 21, Felipe Juan Garza, 30, and Alejandro Rios, 43.

Each man remained at the Hidalgo County Jail late Tuesday in lieu of a $100,000 bond.

Rios has a 2008 conviction for impersonating a public servant earlier that year, according to public records.

The chief said the house appeared to be inhabited, as opposed to being used solely as a stash house.

Cartels caught growing marijuana

2009-07-01T04:38:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, Jul. 01, 2009

Last Thursday morning agents with MADNET (Madera County Narcotic Enforcement Team) and Fish & Game eradicated almost 9,000 marijuana plants, 500 of which were still in starter cups ready to be planted in one of two gardens tilled on private land Coarsegold.

The Madera County Regional SWAT Team led the raid that started early Thursday morning on Veater Ranch located off Highway 41 just south of the town of Coarsegold. The operation ended ay around 2 p.m. that afternoon.

Veater Ranch, which borders US Forest land, spans roughly 850 acres with some of the most breathtaking views. The region gained notoriety as being a popular destination point for trail rides.

But with 850 acres of open land, Madera County Sheriff John Anderson says it also provided opportunity for Drug Cartels to sneak in and plant their "grows."

Sheriff Anderson says the Drug Cartels who are fully armed pose a significant threat to the Mountain Community's way of life.

Fortunately no was hurt during today's operation, and no arrests were made.

Sheriff Anderson says MADNET discovered the two plots after receiving a tip from a vigilant citizen who spotted drip lines where they didn't belong.

Sheriff's raid discovers 11,000 marijuana plants

2009-07-01T04:35:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, Jul. 1, 2009

More than 11,000 marijuana plants, with a street value of $44 million, were taken from two grow sites in the northwestern portion of the Mendocino National Forest on Tuesday, according to information released by Glenn County Sheriff Larry Jones.
The gardens were consistent with those operated by drug trafficking organizations. Trash-strewn camps within and near the gardens indicated they were being tended and guarded, the sheriff said.

No suspects or weapons were encountered during the daylong operation conducted by the Sheriff's Department Marijuana Eradication Team and members of Campaign Against Marijuana Planting.

The agents were transported by air to the remote location in the Heifer Ridge area of Glenn County.

Deputies seize 16 pounds of marijuana

2009-07-01T04:30:00.000-07:00

Monday, June 29, 2009 6:52 PM EDT
Members of the Oswego County Sheriff’s Department discovered a large quantity of marijuana and cash, as well as an illegally possessed weapon, after executing a search warrant Friday morning for a house in Oswego County.

Robert Boom, 52, of Tug Hill Road, Oswego, was charged with first-degree possession of marijuana, a felony; criminal possession of a weapon, a misdemeanor; and the unlawful growing of cannabis, a misdemeanor and a violation of the Public Health Law.

“There was a tip received by the Oswego County Drug Task Force (team)which relayed the tip on to our department,” said Oswego County Sheriff Reuel Todd. Investigator Robert Moody was assigned to the case and eventually received a search warrant for Boom’s residence, which was executed Friday morning.

“It led to the location of drugs, money and a weapon,” Todd said.

During the raid, more than 16 pounds of marijuana were found in Boom’s residence. The quantity of marijuana included plants that were being grown within the house, as well as a portion of the drug that had been packaged. One such package contained approximately 10 pounds of the plant.

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“There was some in the house and some in the shed out behind the house,” Todd said in reference to the marijuana.

Also found in the home during the raid was approximately $24,000 in cash, a shotgun and various paraphernalia used for growing and selling marijuana. All of the items were seized from the home.

Boom was arraigned before Oswego Town Court Judge Michael Sterio. He was remanded to the Oswego County Correctional Facility without bail. As of press time Monday, no court date had been set for Boom.

Man arrested, suspected of growing drugs

2009-07-01T04:29:00.000-07:00

An anonymous tip led to the arrest of a Sturgeon Bay man on Monday who allegedly grew marijuana in the attic of his house.

On Monday, the Door/Kewaunee Drug Task Force executed a search warrant at a residence on the west side of Sturgeon Bay. Officers seized nearly eight pounds of high-grade marijuana, numerous marijuana plants and nearly $16,000 in cash from the home of Shawn P. Groleau, 39, who owns and lives at 69 E. Pine St.

Groleau was arrested for the manufacture of marijuana with an enhanced charge of being within 1,000 feet of a school. The home is in proximity to Sawyer Elementary School.

"This is a rapidly evolving case," said Dan Trelka, Sturgeon Bay police chief. "We anticipate more arrests."

Groleau, who has had no prior convictions, posted a cash bond on Tuesday, after a hearing in which probably cause was found. The district attorney's office will file formal charges when Groleau returns to court Monday. As a condition of his bond, Groleau was ordered not to possess drugs or weapons and not to leave Door, Kewaunee or Brown counties.

Street value of the bagged marijuana seized in the arrest ranges from $10,000 to $50,000, Trelka said. Most of the marijuana was bagged, and the plant's leaves were harvested, he said.

The plants were about 3 feet tall, and grow lights and drug paraphernalia also were found.

"We appreciate people calling with good, solid information," Trelka said. "It's just an example of how valuable citizens' phone calls can be."