-from cfnews13.com-

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office calls it one of the biggest marijuana busts in the county’s history.

Deputies said they found a grow house with about 350 mature plants inside a Lakeland home.

It all started this weekend when neighbors say they heard a gunshot and saw a car speeding away.

Deputies said two suspects were attempting to rob the homeowners who found nearly a million dollars worth of high grade marijuana and a sophisticated growing operation.

“Certainly this marijuana was ready for harvesting, and we think the suspects knew that,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. “We need to find the two suspects who are driving a dark-colored vehicle, possibly a Mercedes or sports vehicle.”

This is the third grow house found this month, and the twentieth this year in Polk County.

-from dailyinterlake.com-

A months-long undercover drug operation that spanned two states has resulted in four arrests, the Northwest Drug Task Force said last week.

The multi-agency investigation ended in the seizure of more than 1.5 pounds of cocaine and 20 firearms.

While working a prescription drug case in July, Flathead County Sheriff’s detectives received information about a man selling large amounts of cocaine in the Kalispell area.

The Northwest Drug Task Force began an undercover operation that led officers to suppliers bringing weapons and drugs into the Kalispell area from Utah.

In September, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team executed a search warrant on a Marion home and arrested the owner for drug distribution and receiving stolen weapons. Weapons, cocaine and a large amount of cash were seized.

A few days later, task-force officers assisted in a buy/bust operation in Midvale, Utah. One suspect was arrested and charged with distribution of dangerous drugs. About 1.5 pounds of cocaine were seized from that suspect’s vehicle.

That same week, the Midvale and Murray, Utah, SWAT teams raided a house in the Salt Lake City area and arrested two people for possessing and transporting stolen weapons, possessing and transporting stolen vehicles, eluding officers and multiple counts of drug possession.

The pair, both convicted felons, face more than 30 charges in state and federal courts.

During the bust, officers seized 20 firearms, methamphetamine, marijuana and prescription drugs. Eleven of the recovered firearms were found to have been stolen.

Investigators declined to release names and specific locations. The investigation is ongoing.

-from wate.com-

KNOXVILLE (WATE) — Two Knoxville men are in custody on drug and weapons charges when a police house check turns into a drug bust.

Officers with the Knoxville Police Department along with the Office of Parole and Probation Friday morning, conducted a home check on Kenneth Nicolas Fann at his residence on Brookside Avenue.

The officers were acting on numerous complaints of drug activity at the home by area residents.

Authorities say dozens of grams of crack and cocaine and over 250 grams of marijuana were seized by officers during the check.

Two guns, drug paraphernalia, and $3,000 in cash were also seized from the home.

Officials say nineteen-year-old Kenneth Nicholas Fann is facing several drug charges and violation of parole.

Forty-five-year-old Kenneth Alan Fann Sr. is charged with felony possession of a fire arm.

Officers say additional charges are pending and police are investigating.

-from torontosun.com-

By Rob Lamberti

Distribution network based in Port Perry, Cops say

A Port Perry restaurant owner, a professional poker player and a prospect member of the Hells Angels Keswick chapter are among 23 arrested in connection with a multimillion-dollar drug operation based in north Durham.

The list of seizures in Project Lynx, a four-month probe that ended Thursday, include 104 kilos of marijuana, 600 grams of cocaine, more than 25,000 Ecstasy pills and 21 grams of magic mushrooms — all worth about $5.5 million.

Durham drug cops also scooped up a loaded Mac-12 firearm, two handguns and two other long barrel weapons, and seized seven vehicles and about $200,000 cash.

Police executed 13 search warrants in Port Perry, Oshawa, Whitby, Toronto, Haliburton, Bracebridge and Kawartha Lakes. At two homes, they found chemicals used to make cannabis resin.

Investigators believe the distribution network based in Port Perry supplied drugs to communities in Ontario and in Quebec.

IN ARM’S REACH

Two suspects were caught in Bracebridge as they were delivering a load of dope to Rouyn-Noranda, police said.

Intelligence Insp. Tom Cameron said the loaded Mac-12, a semi-automatic that looks like a machine pistol, was found in a marijuana field in arm’s reach of suspects as they harvested their illicit crop by raiding police.

“One didn’t know everybody in the group,” Cameron said.

“As far as the level of sophistication, we were a little surprised at the extent which our Port Perry (suspects) … were allegedly involved in drug trafficking.”

Police filed a total of 129 charges against the 23 suspects, including pro poker player James Nixon, 37, of Oshawa, charged with possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and marijuana; Keswick Hells prospect Zachary Tsapoito, 23, of Greenbank, charged with trafficking cocaine and possessing property obtained by crime; and restaurant owner Thai Cuu, 28, of Port Perry, charged with trafficking cocaine and Ecstasy and conspiring to traffic Ecstasy.

-from ifpress.ca-

By Joe Belanger

A man, woman and a 17-year-old male are charged after marijuana, cash found.

A family whose home was invaded last week by attackers arrested at a London mall after a dramatic chase now face drug trafficking charges.

Middlesex OPP said a man and woman, both 35, and a 17-year-old male are charged after police found two kilograms of marijuana and more than $300,000 in cash at their Denfield Road home in Clandeboye, north of London.

They also are charged with possessing the proceeds of crime.

Their names were not released.

Meanwhile, police said they also seized 4.5 kilograms of marijuana taken from the Clandeboye home during the morning invasion on Sept. 19.

“We’re happy to make these arrests,” Middlesex OPP Const. Doug Graham said. “Especially (with) the amount of cash seized, which certainly demonstrates to us this is a major player.”

The names of the man and woman were not released because it could identify the teen, police said.

Graham said the robbery is a clear example that the drug trade and violence are linked.

“It really reinforces the fact that the drug trade is about violence. They live in a violent world, which serves as a warning to our young people not to get involved in that world.”

On Sept. 19, police were called to a home invasion in Clandeboye where a man was beaten by four masked intruders.

A woman and three children in the home were not injured.

The attackers fled in a white car that was soon spotted by police and followed to Masonville Place in London’s north end at Fanshawe Park Road and Richmond Street.

As many as 20 city and OPP cruisers corralled the car in the mall parking lot, then officers chased and arrested three fleeing suspects. A fourth suspect who ran from the scene is still at large.

During the home invasion investigation, the OPP’s drug enforcement section obtained a search warrant for the Denfield home and discovered the cache of drugs and money.

Charged with robbery with a weapon, assault with a weapon, wearing a disguise and possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking are Londoners Eugene Rockwood, 39, Bryce Dayman, 30, and Rodney Brown, 39. Brown also faces a charge of failing to stop for police.

Although the house was not a grow operation, Graham urged the public to keep on the lookout for homes where drugs may be growing, manufactured or sold.

He said marijuana grow operations are often found in rental homes or in outlying areas. Signs of a possible grow operation include:

- Lights on all night.

- A large number of short-term visitors.

- Strange odours.

- Outdoor fires at night.

-from hs.fi-

By Helsingin Sanomat
League allegedly smuggled over 20 million worth of illegal substances

The drug crime unit of the Helsinki police reported on Thursday that they had broken up an exceptionally large criminal organisation, which had smuggled 3,000 kilos of cannabis resin and 20 kilos of cocaine into Finland in recent years.
The smuggling operation is believed to have begun in 2002. The drugs were reportedly brought into Finland 300 to 500 kg at a time in lorries from The Netherlands, hidden inside legitimate cargoes.
The transport companies were not Finnish, and police say that the drivers were in on the scheme.
The drug shipments were unloaded into smaller vans at ordinary loading areas in and around Helsinki. From there the drugs were taken to hiding places in forests in the Helsinki region and in different parts of the south of Finland.
A group of four people on mountain bikes would wait for the van in a location agreed upon in advance. They would load about 20 kilos of drugs in their backpacks and take them to their forest hiding places.

A drug dealer who wanted to buy drugs from the wholesaler would be given a map where the location of the hideaway was marked in return for the money. There were several hiding places in Helsinki and nearby areas.
The drugs were sold mainly in the Helsinki region and the south of Finland.
Police say that they do not believe that the existence of the organisation would have led to an increase in the number of drug users in the Helsinki area.

The main suspects are two brothers - a 31-year-old businessman and a 37-year-old musician. The older brother had been on a police wanted list for four years before he was arrested. A third suspect is a 40-year-old entrepreneur.
All three are native-born Finns from the Helsinki region. Police say that they have close ties with Central Europe and international drug dealers.
The main perpetrators had set up a number of cover companies, allowing them to move money abroad more easily. The companies were listed as doing consulting work in data processing and programme design.
During the investigation, police have confiscated EUR 310,000 in cash, in addition to 23 kilos of hashish, two kilos of cocaine, a number of cars, guns, motorcycles, as well as jewellery and watches worth more than EUR 100,000.

Police believe that the group had transported drugs worth a total of about EUR 20 million. Investigators estimate that about EUR 10 million in profits were made.
According to police, a number of women were involved, who were “mainly partners of the main perpetrators”, and who were involved in the money laundering side of the operation.

Police said that it was exceptional that all of the suspects were Finns, with no apparent connections to Estonia or Russia.
According to Chief Inspector Jari Aarnio, the organisation was held together through intimidation and blackmail.

-from bellinghamherald.com-

By Caleb Heeringa

Police raided the homes of a pair of brothers and made a string of arrests Wednesday as part of a year-long investigation into a local methamphetamine and cocaine-dealing operation.

The Northwest Regional Drug Taskforce, a multi-agency drug investigation group, served search warrants at the homes of Bodie L. Gwinner, 2141 Mount Baker Highway, and Matthew Gwinner, 2613 Dakin St., in Bellingham. They also raided several rooms at the Whispering Firs Motel in Alger, finding a half-pound of methamphetamine, which has a street value of around $10,000.

Bellingham Police Lt. Rick Sucee said an estimated 15 arrests were made in connection with the operation, which centered on the two brothers’ properties and circle of friends.

Bodie Gwinner was arrested without incident and booked into Whatcom County Jail. Police are still searching for Matthew Gwinner, who was not home when officers served the search warrant. The names of the rest of the arrested suspects were unavailable Wednesday evening.

Sucee said “very little” methamphetamine was found at either property, but that police have gathered enough evidence of extensive dealing of meth, cocaine and the prescription drug oxycodone from the properties to warrant the arrests.

“Dealers like these don’t like to keep large supplies around,” Sucee said. “They try to get it and move it quickly. They don’t want to get ripped off.”

Police spent Wednesday morning combing through a white garage on the 27-acre Mount Baker Highway property with a drug-sniffing dog. Sucee said police seized two vehicles and a boat from the property, as well as a large motor home at the Alger-area motel, where four people were arrested.

Neighbors of Matthew Gwinner said the house often had late-night visitors and suspicious activity. Police said they had received 43 calls regarding the house since 2004.

Denny and Barb Brewer, who have lived next door for the last 35 years, said they had known the Gwinner family for a long time. They said Roberta Gwinner, the mother of the brothers, died several years ago, leaving the two houses she owned to her sons.

“Since then, it’s just been chaotic over there,” Barb Brewer said.

Bodie Gwinner was convicted of manufacturing marijuana in 2003 and sentenced to two months in jail, according to Whatcom County Superior Court records.

Gwinner was also charged with cocaine possession last year after an officer allegedly discovered the drug in his vehicle after pulling him over for having expired license plate tabs. Gwinner had the charge dropped in exchange for pleading guilty to jumping bail during the case and was sentenced to three months in jail on Aug. 13 of this year, according to court records.

The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, Bellingham Police, Border Patrol, Washington State Patrol and Skagit County Interlocal Drug Enforcement Unit all participated in the bust.

-from 11alive.com-

By Jennifer Leslie

Police in Clayton County say they’re making the streets safer by keeping 400 pounds of pure cocaine out of the hands of drug dealers.

Police showed off the stash worth $14 million Wednesday afternoon.

They said they seized the drugs yesterday after getting a tip they were hidden in a crate at a shipping company in College Park.

Early Wednesday, officers detained three men from Gwinnett County who showed up to take the crate.

“Anytime you move this much drugs off the streets of metro Atlanta, you are definitely crippling someone’s operation,” said Clayton County Police Chief Jeff Turner.

Clayton county police said the drugs were shipped from Laredo, Texas.

It’s their biggest cocaine bust in at least a decade.