Major Sting Targets Commercial Grow Op

[PFlynn]

California - More than 400 federal and state agents executed search warrants in Southern Humboldt and Arcata today, part of an investigation into what the FBI described as a major commercial marijuana operation.

About eight FBI agents serving a search warrant at a house on Virginia Way just outside Arcata this morning were looking through apparent grow lights, tubing, boxes and bags. They refused to talk to the media.

Several warrants were also served in Southern Humboldt, including on Briceland Thorne Road. A checkpoint staffed with assault-rifle toting agents was reportedly set up at Alderpoint and Harris roads. Convoys of agency vehicles poured through several communities in Southern Humboldt.

The agencies were staging out of the River Lodge in Fortuna.

FBI spokesman Joseph Schadler said that agents with the FBI and the state were collecting evidence through 27 federal and two state warrants as part of a two-year investigation into a major marijuana cultivation and distribution operation.

"We're looking at a single group of folks," Schadler said.

Schadler said that the operation is not targeting at medical marijuana grows.

Warrants were being served on both indoor and outdoor growing operations, Schadler said, and the outdoor operations totaled some 2,000 acres. The U.S. Postal Service and Internal Revenue Service were also participating. Law enforcement does not plan to file charges against anyone at this stage, he said. Agents will continue to search the properties for hours or even days, he said.

Asked if agents had encountered resistance from the targets of the investigation, Schadler said he believed "everything went off without a hitch."



News Hawk: PFlynn - 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Times-Standard (Eureka, CA)
Copyright: 2008 MedisNews Group, Inc.
Contact: editor@times-standard.com
Website: UPDATED: Major sting targets commercial grow op (with video) - Times-Standard Online

 

[Boss]

Lets face it. Drug cartels need to be shut down. This is exactly the opposite way of going about it though. All we need to do is legalize, regulate and tax it. Commercial growers will undercut the price so much it won't be worth selling.

 

[hood1]

I think grown men on high sallaries shoud have something more important to do. Will this madness ever be over? Yes when we vote for like thinking represenatives, ones that represent the majority.Vote out the ones that feel we are children and they must make choices for us. Do it now please vote for Obama he will be a good start to having someone that will represent the people not the corporations. Check it out and vote please help stop the war on the people of the world we are grown and can make our own decisions!!!!!!

 

[Dr. 215]

I live in the humboldt area 9 months out of the year, in arcata those monthes. I just got off the phone with a friend there right now and there are upwards of 450 agents in Humboldt. The good thing is that the Feds are going for the huge growers that do it illegally not medically. The DEA is in Arcata where there are 5 MMJ dispensaries, and they will not shut them down. They are fine with MMJ there because its everywhere. They just want to take out the king pins like boss was saying. Cannabis can never be shut down, it is too magical!

 

[kickstart]

Wow, I just got back from a motorcycle run right in that area a week ago... Met a couple growers there too...

 

[Jimbo]

Lets face it. Drug cartels need to be shut down. This is exactly the opposite way of going about it though. All we need to do is legalize, regulate and tax it. Commercial growers will undercut the price so much it won't be worth selling.

Exactly right bro...legalization will end all the wasteful expenditure of hard earned tax dollars.
No one wants to see cannabis go away, just the people looking to make easy money from it, while the rest of us have to make an honest living to pay those high prices for their herb.
I could even deal with paying high prices for it, if I knew that part of the money was going towards the national debt and not into the pocket of some guy that doesn't want to do any real work for a living.

 

[Jimbo]

While Obama is no doubt lighter minded on drugs, he has never mentioned that he will seek any real drug reform for the whole country...all he said was he would stop the federal raids on MMJ dispensaries.
It still leaves the rest of the country hanging out to dry. He needs to dedicate him self to a rational solution to stopping this God awful drug war.
For all we know, he may even have a back door plan to to that very thing and just doesn't want to commit political suicide.
I just wish he would throw us some kind of bone to that effect, if that is his intentions.

I hope his first order of business will be to burn John Walters down and all his thugs as well!!!
That SOB is nothing more than an organized gang leader, with a whole army of hit men at his disposal!!! He's got to go!!!