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Police busted into an East Baltimore row house Tuesday night and shut down an estimated $1.5 million marijuana-growing operation on the second and third floors, officials said.
John Arbuckle, 33, who police say they believe owns the row house on the 1000 block of E. Pratt Street but lives in Pennsylvania, was arrested on charges of drug possession with intent to distribute, police said. Detectives were tipped off to the row house by an anonymous call late last week to the city's drug hotline, officials said.
"It seemed like he's been doing this for a while," said Detective Dan Lioi, describing the misting system, heating lights and garden hoses strung up for the marijuana to hang and dry, discovered in the house. Lioi said it's rare for detectives to uncover an operation so elaborate.
Lioi spoke at a press conference Wednesday where authorities cut open a wrapped bundle of marijuana plants seized during the raid that had grown 4 feet tall. Officials carried into the room at the department's downtown headquarters 14 brown paper bags, as big as potato sacks, packed with dried, leafy branches.
The room filled with the plant's smell as Lioi described the crop as being of varying quality, but for the most part better than what would be found on the street. The East Pratt Street bust is the biggest yet attributable to a hotline tip, Lioi said.
"That's how we usually find out information, through sources, through anonymous tips, through unrelated issues," such as an officer responding to a domestic violence call and stumbling upon a marijuana crop, said Ed Marcinko, a spokesman with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
Marijuana carries liabilities for growers, such as its bulk and strong smell, that can make it harder to conceal and easier to detect, he said.
Lioi said detectives aren't sure how the anonymous caller knew about the crop. But police thought the tip was credible enough that they spent the next four days investigating, setting up watch nearby, he said. The smell of the plants was a clue, he said, as it wafted from the house whenever the door opened.
Next stop for the seized marijuana is evidence control, Lioi said. Eventually, a police spokesman said, it'll be burned.
Statistics show marijuana trade is violent
Police departments across the Baltimore metropolitan area say the drug trade associated with marijuana is as violent – and therefore every bit as important to fight – as those harder drugs.
"People think that just because it's marijuana, it's not as violent," said Sgt. Vickie Wareheim, a spokeswoman for Baltimore County Police Department. "But the statistics show that it is."
Baltimore City Police busted into an East Baltimore row house Tuesday night and shut down an estimated $1.5 million marijuana-growing operation, seizing more than 400 pounds of the drug, officials said.
That quantity of marijuana was more than Baltimore County police seized from dealers in all of 2004.
Baltimore City Police spokesman Matt Jablow also said the marijuana trade is just as dangerous as that for other drugs.
"The buying and selling of marijuana is not a harmless, peaceful activity," he said. "Anybody who says that just doesn't know the reality. It's a very violent drug for the sellers. We have seized 95 guns in marijuana raids this year.
"Some of the most violent drug dealers in the city are selling marijuana."
Sheriff's deputies in Carroll and Harford counties agreed.
"A lot of people think of a marijuana as a lesser drug, but it's not," said Lt. Jim Eyler, a Harford Sheriff's Office spokesman.
Calls to police departments in Anne Arundel and Howard counties were not returned by press time.
Newshawk: SX420 - 420 Magazine
Source: Baltimore Examiner
Author: Kathleen Cullinan
Copyright: 2006, Examiner.com
Contact: kcullinan@baltimoreexaminer.com
Website: Today's Top Breaking News Headlines for New York and the Nation - Examiner.com
John Arbuckle, 33, who police say they believe owns the row house on the 1000 block of E. Pratt Street but lives in Pennsylvania, was arrested on charges of drug possession with intent to distribute, police said. Detectives were tipped off to the row house by an anonymous call late last week to the city's drug hotline, officials said.
"It seemed like he's been doing this for a while," said Detective Dan Lioi, describing the misting system, heating lights and garden hoses strung up for the marijuana to hang and dry, discovered in the house. Lioi said it's rare for detectives to uncover an operation so elaborate.
Lioi spoke at a press conference Wednesday where authorities cut open a wrapped bundle of marijuana plants seized during the raid that had grown 4 feet tall. Officials carried into the room at the department's downtown headquarters 14 brown paper bags, as big as potato sacks, packed with dried, leafy branches.
The room filled with the plant's smell as Lioi described the crop as being of varying quality, but for the most part better than what would be found on the street. The East Pratt Street bust is the biggest yet attributable to a hotline tip, Lioi said.
"That's how we usually find out information, through sources, through anonymous tips, through unrelated issues," such as an officer responding to a domestic violence call and stumbling upon a marijuana crop, said Ed Marcinko, a spokesman with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
Marijuana carries liabilities for growers, such as its bulk and strong smell, that can make it harder to conceal and easier to detect, he said.
Lioi said detectives aren't sure how the anonymous caller knew about the crop. But police thought the tip was credible enough that they spent the next four days investigating, setting up watch nearby, he said. The smell of the plants was a clue, he said, as it wafted from the house whenever the door opened.
Next stop for the seized marijuana is evidence control, Lioi said. Eventually, a police spokesman said, it'll be burned.
Statistics show marijuana trade is violent
Police departments across the Baltimore metropolitan area say the drug trade associated with marijuana is as violent – and therefore every bit as important to fight – as those harder drugs.
"People think that just because it's marijuana, it's not as violent," said Sgt. Vickie Wareheim, a spokeswoman for Baltimore County Police Department. "But the statistics show that it is."
Baltimore City Police busted into an East Baltimore row house Tuesday night and shut down an estimated $1.5 million marijuana-growing operation, seizing more than 400 pounds of the drug, officials said.
That quantity of marijuana was more than Baltimore County police seized from dealers in all of 2004.
Baltimore City Police spokesman Matt Jablow also said the marijuana trade is just as dangerous as that for other drugs.
"The buying and selling of marijuana is not a harmless, peaceful activity," he said. "Anybody who says that just doesn't know the reality. It's a very violent drug for the sellers. We have seized 95 guns in marijuana raids this year.
"Some of the most violent drug dealers in the city are selling marijuana."
Sheriff's deputies in Carroll and Harford counties agreed.
"A lot of people think of a marijuana as a lesser drug, but it's not," said Lt. Jim Eyler, a Harford Sheriff's Office spokesman.
Calls to police departments in Anne Arundel and Howard counties were not returned by press time.
Newshawk: SX420 - 420 Magazine
Source: Baltimore Examiner
Author: Kathleen Cullinan
Copyright: 2006, Examiner.com
Contact: kcullinan@baltimoreexaminer.com
Website: Today's Top Breaking News Headlines for New York and the Nation - Examiner.com
