CROP SEIZED IN COOS BAY, MAN HELD

COOS BAY - A North Bend man was arrested Friday after narcotics agents
raided a Coos Bay warehouse and found a $1 million crop of marijuana.

The South Coast Interagency Narcotics Team seized 1,300 live plants from
a two-story warehouse at 737 N. Front St., Coos County Sheriff's Sgt.
Craig Zanni said.

The landlord confirmed for police that Walter Minor Johnson rents the
space where the plants were found, Zanni said. The 68-year-old North
Bend resident was arrested on several charges, including the manufacture
and delivery of drugs.

If allowed to mature, the plants could have produced about $1 million
worth of marijuana for sale on the street, Zanni said.

"We have not seen a garden like this in several years," he said.

The growing room, on the second floor, was outfitted with hydroponic
equipment, which allows the plants to grow in a nutrient-rich solution,
instead of soil, Zanni said.

Messages left at Johnson's home were not returned late Friday.

Narcotics investigators frequently discover large marijuana gardens
through huge utility bills and other covert means. In this case, they
learned of the operation the old-fashioned way: "People talking to other
people," Zanni said.

After a monthlong investigation, agents obtained a search warrant; they
entered at 10 a.m. Friday. Officers arrested Johnson at a separate
location a short time later.

Portions of the older building have been renovated and leased to various
tenants, including a Vietnam veterans' organization, Zanni said. None of
the other rental spaces were included in the warrant.



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Pubdate: Sat, 27 Apr 2002
Source: Register-Guard, The (OR)
Copyright: 2002 The Register-Guard
Contact: rgletters@guardnet.com
Website: http://www.registerguard.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/362
Author: Rebecca Nolan, The Register-Guard