Herb Fellow
New Member
MISSOULA – A months-long drug investigation involving confidential informants and concerned citizens led Missoula narcotics detectives to a 143-plant marijuana grow operation last Friday morning.
Authorities arrested 29-year-old Brian L. Hawk inside his home, where the man allegedly conducted a lucrative pot-dealing enterprise that served as his only source of income for the past two years, according to court papers.
Hawk was met at his home Friday with a battering ram, and detectives were greeted by 3-foot-high marijuana plants, jugs of fertilizer, lighting systems, and a large carbon filter and CO2 tank.
Hawk was charged with three drug-related felonies Monday in Missoula County Justice Court, and remains jailed on $75,000 bail.
Detectives first learned about the possibility of drug activity at Hawk's five-bedroom home in early October, when concerned citizens who live in the area came forward.
An FBI informant who lives in Billings and knows Hawk told authorities that he had seen the grow operation inside the house. The informant said Hawk lives by himself, has not had a job in more than two years and always has large amounts of cash.
Over the next two months, Missoula detectives surveyed the house and noticed opaque plastic over the windows, some of which were constantly open for ventilation "because of the heat that the grow lights create," records state.
Other rooms appeared illuminated throughout the night. When investigators subpoenaed NorthWestern Energy for Hawk's power records, they were unusually high.
On Jan. 4, detectives obtained a search warrant for the house, which is located in a neighborhood near Patty Ann Drive.
When officers entered the house, they could immediately smell the marijuana plants and heard the whirring of fans and different music playing in the various rooms where the plants were cultivated, according to charging documents.
"In each grow room there were fans and music playing for the plants," the document states. "On the walls of the house, there were posters of various strains of marijuana, and of the marijuana user's icon, Bob Marley." Authorities also seized a Kona mountain bike, a Sony PlayStation 3 and various power tools among other items.
Source: The Montana Standard
Copyright: 2008, The Montana Standard
Contact: Tristan Scott
Website: .:: The Montana Standard ::.
Authorities arrested 29-year-old Brian L. Hawk inside his home, where the man allegedly conducted a lucrative pot-dealing enterprise that served as his only source of income for the past two years, according to court papers.
Hawk was met at his home Friday with a battering ram, and detectives were greeted by 3-foot-high marijuana plants, jugs of fertilizer, lighting systems, and a large carbon filter and CO2 tank.
Hawk was charged with three drug-related felonies Monday in Missoula County Justice Court, and remains jailed on $75,000 bail.
Detectives first learned about the possibility of drug activity at Hawk's five-bedroom home in early October, when concerned citizens who live in the area came forward.
An FBI informant who lives in Billings and knows Hawk told authorities that he had seen the grow operation inside the house. The informant said Hawk lives by himself, has not had a job in more than two years and always has large amounts of cash.
Over the next two months, Missoula detectives surveyed the house and noticed opaque plastic over the windows, some of which were constantly open for ventilation "because of the heat that the grow lights create," records state.
Other rooms appeared illuminated throughout the night. When investigators subpoenaed NorthWestern Energy for Hawk's power records, they were unusually high.
On Jan. 4, detectives obtained a search warrant for the house, which is located in a neighborhood near Patty Ann Drive.
When officers entered the house, they could immediately smell the marijuana plants and heard the whirring of fans and different music playing in the various rooms where the plants were cultivated, according to charging documents.
"In each grow room there were fans and music playing for the plants," the document states. "On the walls of the house, there were posters of various strains of marijuana, and of the marijuana user's icon, Bob Marley." Authorities also seized a Kona mountain bike, a Sony PlayStation 3 and various power tools among other items.
Source: The Montana Standard
Copyright: 2008, The Montana Standard
Contact: Tristan Scott
Website: .:: The Montana Standard ::.