-from 1410wizm.com-

A drug bust has led cops to solving a burglary from several months ago. La Crosse police have arrested four guys for stealing thousands of dollars from the safe of the High Roller Skating Rink back in December. They busted 21 year-old James Dahl for dealing cocaine and while questioning him got him to admit that he had been part of the group that stole the cash. It also appears that he fed cops Willie Barton, Zachary Martin and Keaton Wigdal, all teenagers, all now facing charges in the High Roller burglary.

-from sltrib.com-

By Russ Rizzo and Stephen Hunt

OGDEN - A 51-year-old Ogden man killed by police early Thursday was armed and ready for officers when they forced their way into his house, police said.
William Louis Florez pointed a gun at SWAT team members from the Ogden and Layton police departments, prompting two officers to open fire on him, killing Florez as his brother looked on, said Lt. Scott Sangberg.
“He was up and he was armed,” Sangberg said.
Police have not described the gun or said whether Florez fired at officers. SWAT officers entered the house, at 368 28th St., about 1:40 a.m. and opened fire on Florez within seconds, he said.
One Layton and one Ogden officer - whom police have not identified publicly - have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into the shooting by Weber County homicide detectives and internal reviews by the Ogden and Layton police departments.
Florez - a convicted killer - was suspected of dealing drugs and guns and had been considered by police to be armed and dangerous, Sangberg said.
When applying for the no-knock warrant, police rated Florez a 72 on a 100-point threat scale, Sangberg said.
“That’s one of the highest [ratings] I’ve seen in my career,” said Ogden police Lt. Tony Fox.Also Thursday morning, SWAT officers entered a house down the street from Florez and arrested a woman they said was dealing drugs with him.
Myra K. Carlisle, 48, was booked into the Weber County jail on suspicion of distributing drugs.
The searches were part of a two-month investigation by the Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force, Sangberg said.
In the 1970s and ’80s, Florez committed numerous violent crimes, according to Tribune archives.
He barricaded himself in a home and exchanged gunfire with police in 1976. Soon after his parole for those crimes, he returned to prison for hitting his father-in-law over the head with a bottle.
Then, in 1981, he was charged with raping, robbing and cutting a woman, a case he settled by pleading guilty to aggravated assault.
Five years later, Florez fatally stabbed Stephen Myers, 29, twice in the chest after finding the man in bed with his girlfriend. Florez was convicted of capital murder, but the jury decided against the death penalty.
The Utah Supreme Court later reversed the conviction and ordered a new trial. Florez pleaded guilty in 1990 to manslaughter and possession of a dangerous weapon and was sent to prison for up to 20 years.
At his first parole hearing later that year, Florez told the board he was a changed man and that he had promised his mother before she died that he would go straight and help take care of their family.
He was released from prison in June 2006 and, according to the state court system, was not charged with any crime since.
Carlisle’s criminal history since 1996 consists of three misdemeanor convictions, two for theft and one for possession of drug paraphernalia. She was sentenced to fines and probation.

-from 14wfie.com-

By Amanda Lents

It may be the biggest drug bust from a vehicle ever in Kentucky.

Police showed off nearly three million dollars worth of marijuana was found inside a truck on the interstate near Bowling Green. Investigators credit the bust to an officer who noticed the truck driver was going especially slow.

Police say the driver also had a hard time answering basic questions about where he was going or where he had been. A drug dog was called and the trainer said the animal went crazy.

The pot was traced to Houston and was probably bound for Northern Ohio. Two suspects are in the Warren County Detention Center and charged with trafficking marijuana.

-from gjsentinel.com-

By Mike Saccone

A Grand Junction man was arrested on suspicion of methamphetamine possession and illegal weapon possession after the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team recovered methamphetamine and a small arsenal from his home Tuesday afternoon.

Ellery Rexford Emert, 48, 2539 Davis Drive, was arrested on suspicion of methamphetamine possession, felony menacing, aggravated robbery, auto theft and other related charges after a report of a threatening encounter blossomed into full-blown drug bust.

Deputies received a report Saturday night that a man named “Bud” had threatened another man with a weapon, according to Emerts’ arrest affidavit.

When deputies reported to the scene, 23-year-old Crystal Johnson told the officers “Bud,” later confirmed to be Emert, stole Johnson’s car the night before “due to a drug deal that went bad,” the affidavit said.

When Johnson’s ex-boyfriend, Jeremy Arnold, approached Emert to ask for the car back, “Bud became angry with him,” according to the affidavit.

“Jeremy reports Bud was then observed loading a shotgun and then loading a Ruger .22 caliber handgun (and) placing the handgun in the small of his back,” the affidavit said. “Jeremy reports being told by Bud not to return or he would be dead.”

Based on these facts, the SWAT team executed a “no-knock search warrant” on Emert’s home on Tuesday.

“A search of Emert’s residence at 2539 Davis Drive produced several weapons to include shotguns as well as methamphetamines … found in the bedroom of Ellery and (42-year-old) Chrisy Emert,” the affidavit said.

Both Emerts were arrested on suspicion of child abuse after deputies reported finding “food and refuse … scattered throughout the residence to include the 14-year-old daughter’s bedroom,” the affidavit said.

Ellery Emert told Mesa County Judge Gretchen Larson during a Wednesday hearing that he was sure there was a mistake with the charges, which could land him in prison for up to 48 years.

“They say suspected methamphetamines because there isn’t any,” Emert told the court. “I’m innocent until proven guilty.”

Nonetheless, Mesa County District Attorney Pete Hautzinger requested a high bond for Emert, noting the “sheer volume” of his 10 pending felony and misdemeanor cases.

Larson agreed, setting the bond at $200,000, saying if the charges are true, they are “very disturbing.”

Both Emerts will return to court next week.

-from kfvs12.com-

PUERTO SUAREZ, Bolivia (AP) - 1 of Bolivia’s largest drug labs is now out of business.

Police found the laboratory in the southern Bolivian jungle.

It was capable of producing 245 pounds of cocaine daily.

The head of Bolivia’s Special Anti-Narcotics Force says “It’s 1 of the biggest drug busts in recent years.”

Six Colombians and two Bolivians were arrested at the lab near the town of Izozog (EE’-zoh-zog). Police also seized 35 pounds of cocaine and more than 22 tons of chemicals used to process the drug.

Satellite photos taken by the US Drug Enforcement Agency revealed the location of the lab. Officials say it had been in operation for some time and shipped its product to Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.

Bolivia ranks third among the world’s cocaine-producing nations, behind Colombia and Peru.

-from myfoxtwincities.com-

Mexican marijuana seized in Mendota Heights

Two men have been charged with trafficking marijuana with an estimated street value of $3 million from Mexico to Minnesota. The State Patrol made the bust on Interstate 494 near Mendota Heights. The marijuana came from Mexico and entered the United Stated through El Paso, Texas. The marijuana was hidden in the truck with a load of candy. Two men were arraigned today in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis charged with interstate trafficking of marijuana. One of the men is an illegal alien, police said.

-from wcpo.com-

By Deb Silverman

The fine you pay for your next speeding ticket could help fund the next drug bust in your neighborhood.

Ohio lawmakers are considering boosting traffic fines to cover the cost of local drug task forces.

The Warren County Drug Task Force was busy on Wednesday, arresting people in Mason, Lebanon, Middletown, Franklin, Springboro and Hamilton Township.

The suspects were picked up at their homes and at work.

In a Lebanon home on Mound Court, drug agents say they didn’t find the person they were looking for, but they did find marajuana plants. “A good portion of these were done by complaints of citizens in the neighbhorhoods,” said Drug Task Force Commander John Burke. “These are the people that the average person sees in the neighborhood trafficking drugs. These are the people concerned about their own kids with.”

Burke said the federal government has shifted millions of dollars from the war on drugs into the war on terror.

He said that leaves Ohio drug task forces without enough money to conduct many busts like the most recent one.

Burke says the programs will survive if the proposal to add $5 to every moving violation in Ohio becomes law. It would generate $8 million and make up for the loss in federal funding.

A legislative committee is weighing in on whether or not the bill should go to the legislature for a vote. Locals are weighing in on it, too.

Wayne Herzog of West Chester and his wife Jo are split on the proposal. “I would think it’s okay as long as the money’s allocated towards that purpose,” said Wayne.

“I really don’t agree with it because tickets are already expensive,” Jo argued. However, Jo thinks the programs definietly need to be funded.

“It’s like crime of any kind. Robbery, burglary, they have to be addressed and without addressing the drug trafficking problem in Ohio we’d be innondated and just keeping it under control and curbing it is probably the best we can do but it’s something that’s absolutely essential.”

Drug agents also say it’s essential to make drug arrests because they say drugs lead to many violent crimes. As for the suspects arrested on Wednesday, they are all now in the Warren County jail.

-from greeleytrib.com-

By Sherrie Peif

Police arrested two Windsor men Saturday on charges of growing marijuana in their home, marking the third such bust in Windsor in the last two months.

Brandon Rusch, 34, and Robert Yarnell, 33, were booked into the Weld County Jail on suspicion of three felony charges after six Windsor police officers confiscated 23 marijuana plants inside their home at 950 Columbine Drive.

Windsor Police Chief John Michaels said he was not sure if this was the largest “grow house” he’s seen in Windsor, but confirmed it is rare to find this many plants of this size in town.

He is concerned, however, of the growing drug raids in town involving Windsor residents.

Police arrested Charles Rizza, 48, in April. He was charged with possession of methamphetamine after the Larimer County Drug Task Force raided a home at 100 Walnut St. Earlier this month, police arrested Windsor resident Adam Schweibish, 39, and his business partner Michael Porter, 38, for possessing and growing more than 200 pounds and 1,900 plants of marijuana at three locations in Loveland and Fort Collins.

“I think it is certainly here,” Michaels said. “And if we had the right information, we could probably hit a few more. But we work within the confines of the law and the constitution and we have to have all the right information before we can act on something.”

Rusch and Yarnell face charges of cultivating marijuana, distribution/sale/possession with intent to sell and possession of more than 8 ounces or more of the drug.

Michaels said the arrests came after a week of investigating the men. They searched the home at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

“They found 23 marijuana plants in various stages of maturity,” Michaels said. “About a half dozen with full buds on them certainly looked to be ready (to be cultivated) very shortly.”

Michaels said the plants ranged from a foot high to nearly 4 feet high.

Police also seized growing equipment, including pots, lamps, hoses, buckets, trimming equipment, fertilizer and a filtration system.

Rusch, who listed the home as his place of residence, was arrested and taken to jail by Windsor police, while Yarnell, who is the owner of the eastern Windsor property, was already in jail at the time the warrant on an earlier arrest in Greeley. His charges were added to those already in process for a similar crime.

Michaels said the value of the marijuana has not been determined.

“We’re not assigning a value to them,” he said. “There is no value or amount by statute that makes for criminal charges. The possession of it, the weight of it, that’s what we look at for charges.”

He said the investigation is continuing to see if there are any additional charges that can be brought.

“I hate to say it one way or the other,” Michaels said. “But in any operation of this size, the investigation will continue to see if there is any other illegal activities in or around our community.”

Growing marijuana

One plant grown indoors produces approximately 3 ounces to one pound of produced marijuana.
– Source: drugscience.org which is operated my Jon Gettman, the former president and national director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.