-from recordnet.com-

By Dana M. Nichols

MOKELUMNE HILL - The Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department reports that so far this month it has destroyed 19,000 marijuana plants with a potential street value of $57 million. Combined with the 2,000 plants eradicated in June, that brings the total this year to 21,000, already surpassing the previous record of 20,000 plants eradicated in a single year in the county, Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Dave Seawell said. And the growing season is only half over. “Back in the day when I started, a big grow was 500 plants,” Seawell said. “That was late ’80s and early ’90s. As time has gone on and the big drug cartels have gotten involved in drug grows in California, the plantations have gotten large.” The department said in a news release that officers in an aircraft spotted two marijuana gardens. The first garden, along Esperanza Creek near Jesus Maria Road, was eradicated on July 13. It had 12,000 plants. Investigators said they found shotgun ammunition and that the plants showed signs they were receiving daily watering and attention. The second garden was found near Gwin Mine Road between Mokelumne Hill and Paloma. It had 7,000 plants, which were eradicated last Thursday. No arrests were made during the operations. Witnesses reported seeing a man running from the garden during the eradication operation near Gwin Mine Road. Seawell said growers plant the marijuana under trees or brush such as manzanita in an effort to hide it from aerial surveillance. He said that often the spotters in aircraft will see only a pocket garden of a few hundred plants. That picture often changes when officers get to the site on the ground. “When you start walking trails, they start leading you to different plots,” Seawell said. He said the recently eradicated gardens, like most illegal plantations, are in remote, rarely visited locations on public land.

-from wvva.com-

Early tuesday morning, law enforcement agencies made three drug busts in the area. Police arrested, Terry Headeen of Havaco, his brother Jerry Headeen of Buefield and Chris Grose of Gary in Mcdowell County.
A large quantity of oxycodone, weapons and a substancial amount of cash were recovered in the raid. Each man was charged with one federal count of Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. The three arrested were arraigned today before a federal magistrate in Bluefield. The bust was a result of a lenghty investigation by the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime task force along with DEA, FBI,IRS,and ATF.

-from landlinemag.com-

Federal officials say cooperation between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and a county agency prevented $100 million worth of cocaine from hitting the streets.

According to an ICE news release, ICE agents and investigators from the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s High Intensity Drug Task Force watched a tractor-trailer leave Monte Cristo, TX, this past week during suspected drug transaction surveillance. Officers initiated a traffic stop and agents arrested driver Robert Davila, who admitted cocaine was in the vehicle. Agents seized 888 pounds inside Davila’s rig.

Less than 24 hours later on Thursday, July 19, agents received information about drugs being stored at a trailer parked at a house near Edinburg, TX. Agents went to the house and arrested Martin Garcia.

Garcia, 46, of Edinburg, TX, and Davila, 56, of San Carlos, TX, were charged with possession with intent to distribute and conspiracy with intent to distribute cocaine.

Both are being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Southern District of Texas.

Julie Myers, assistant secretary for Homeland Security, said in a prepared press statement that the seizure was ICE’s largest of the year.

“Clearly, traffickers underestimated the excellent working relationships we have with our local law enforcement partners,” Myers said. “We will continue to investigate this crime and follow the evidence to the source.”

-from pressconnects.com-

By Brian Liberatore

JOHNSON CITY — Johnson City police, along with the state police and the Binghamton Police Bureau, made three arrests last week following an investigation into the sale of Oxycontin, a prescription painkiller.

Police stopped Robert C. Card, 37, of Baxter Street, Binghamton, and Timothy R. Blogett, 21, of Newark Valley, as they were leaving a residence at Deyo Hill Road in the village. Police said the two had 15 Oxycontin pills.

Police later searched Card’s residence where they say they found 11 pills and four hypodermic needles. Then, police arrested Sheila M. Kavetski, 39, also of Baxter Street, accusing her of supplying the Oxycontin.

* Card was charged with three felonies: one count of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

* Blogett was charged with one felony for seventh-degree criminal possession, and a misdemeanor for criminal facilitation.

* Kavetski was charged with one felony count of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.

After arraignment, Card and Kavetski were sent to Broome County Jail. Blogett was released to appear at a later date.

-from calsun.canoe.ca-

By CP

TORONTO — Eleven people have been charged after police cracked what they say is a drug trafficking network operating at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.

The Toronto Drug Enforcement Unit says eight people are charged with drug-related offences involving cocaine, marijuana, and ecstasy.

RCMP Cpl. Cathy McCrory said several of the suspects work as baggage handlers, giving them access to restricted areas

-from niagarafallsreview.ca-

WELLAND – Investigating some stolen cell phones turned into a drug bust for police Friday morning. Just before 7 a.m., Niagara Regional Police attended a motel room on Niagara Street North while looking into stolen phones.

Two people were arrested for possession of stolen property valued under $5,000. Officers then spotted drugs and assorted drug paraphernalia within the motel room, including a half-ounce of cocaine prepared for distribution. About $3,300 of cash was also seized. Charged are Darlene meeks, 46, and Michelino Battista, 44, both of Welland.

-from uniondemocrat.com-

By Michael Kay

More than 9,000 marijuana plants worth roughly $2 million were destroyed in south Tuolumne County Thursday.

Members of the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office and its Tuolumne Narcotic Team, and CAMP — the state Campaign Against Marijuana Planting — mulched and then burned 9,072 plants found in the Moccasin area.

The bust was the fifth in a two-month span that has yielded nearly 12,000 plants that have been found and destroyed in the Mother Lode.

Sizable pot busts at remote sites are fairly common between July to October, typically the harvest season for marijuana, because officials from all law agencies are on the lookout for these illegal plantations, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

In 2006, the Tuolumne Narcotic Team uprooted and destroyed more than 80,000 plants in the county.

Thursday, the teams also seized a loaded .22 caliber semi-automatic handgun, 9 mm ammunition and rifle ammunition, but no suspects were caught.

“When they sense that we’re coming into the area, they flee. They’re probably still wandering,” said sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Dan Bressler. “They either wander and find another plot or get picked up.”

Like many recent busts, evidence at the scene and the style of the plot suggest the plants were a “Mexican DTO Grow” — or Drug Trafficking Organization, Bressler said.

The plants, between 6 and 30 inches tall when found, were located on U.S. Bureau of Land Management land during a flyover by detectives with the narcotic team.

-from azcentral.com-

By Eugene Scott

Nine people were arrested in a Tempe home after police found a large quantity of marijuana and firearms. Tempe police served a search warrant at 7 p.m. Thursday to a house in the 2600 block of West Dunbar Drive, near 48th Street and Baseline Road. Police found a substantial amount of marijuana intended for sale and four firearms. The seven men and two women inside the home were all arrested, many of them found to be members of a criminal street gang.

A 2-year-old and a 6-month-old baby who were in the house were turned over to family members at another location. Maricopa County Animal Control removed five pit bulls from the home. Detectives had been investigating the home for several weeks. Neighbors had complained about traffic, loose dogs and suspected drug activity at the address.