Plainsman1963

http://www.Marijuana.com/420/attachm...achmentid=2900
Deputy Rose Monette shows 11 pounds of Marijuana recently seized by the Wayne County Sheriff's Office. In-home gardening operations and cross-border smuggling are up in southeastern Michigan, law enforcement officials say.

Cultivation, smuggling growth seen

By Jim Lynch | The Detroit News | 10-14-2004


Some use expensive homes in Macomb County as Marijuana greenhouses. Others zip across the Detroit River on a Jet Ski to bring shipments of sought-after Canadian pot into the United States. Still others use special compartments in trucks, with the illegal leaf sealed in plastic so drug-sniffing dogs can’t detect it.

It’s all part of the increasingly innovative cat-and-mouse games played out between drug dealers and growers on one side, and police on the other — a battle over a drug that sells on the street for $150 to $500 an ounce, depending on its potency.

Law enforcement officials — many of whom are convinced that pot usage is rising significantly in southeast Michigan — are combating the new-wave techniques with some weapons of their own.

They include helicopter surveillance of pot fields, increased use of drug-sniffing dogs, and Homeland Security cash to monitor illegal activities along the border with Canada.

The results in Metro Detroit: the amount of pot being seized is rising significantly, and the number of arrests is up. For example, arrests in Oakland County involving Marijuana increased 72.8 percent between 2001 and 2003.

“If you’re in (the Marijuana) business, you have to be innovative,” said Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel. “If you keep doing the same thing all the time, people will catch on.”

http://www.marijuana.com/420/attachm...achmentid=2901
Deputies repack seized marijuana. Police have responded to the proliferation of the pot trade with helicopter surveillance and increased monitoring of border activities.

The stakes in the game are particularly high these days with Michigan becoming a greater target for smuggling, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Last month, law enforcement officials in Macomb County followed tips from the public to four upscale homes that had been turned into Marijuana production centers.

That hide-in-plain-sight mentality runs contrary to the usual approach preferred by Marijuana growers, Hackel said. More typical in-house growing operations are found in remote shacks or homes in rural settings that no one is likely to stumble upon.

Wayne County sheriff’s deputies got a surprise of their own this summer. On July 18, a deputy patrolling the Detroit River on a boat noticed a Jet Ski moving too quickly through a no-wake zone near the shore in Ecorse.

The waterborne traffic stop became a drug bust with the discovery of 26 pounds of Marijuana the man was bringing over from Canada. That same week, a boat stopped on the river produced a bust with 300 pounds of Marijuana.

In Oakland County, semi-trucks stopped by sheriff’s deputies in the last two months have turned up Marijuana hidden in special compartments in vacuum-sealed packages to evade detection by police dogs.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard has watched Marijuana become a bigger problem each of the last few years.

In addition to the rising number of pot-related arrests, Oakland County is seizing more of the drug. In 2001, the county seized 526 pounds of Marijuana. In 2002, that figure jumped to 924 pounds, and last year it reached 895 pounds.

Helicopter pilots for the Sheriff’s Office have received training in spotting Marijuana patches, with their distinctive green color.

“Now that they know what they’re looking for, they’re finding it left and right,” Bouchard said.

Changes in Michigan law some time ago allowed police to use an old weapon in the war on drugs — K-9 units — in a new way.

Previously, an officer had to detect telltale signs of pot, even if a dog was present and signaling the presence of the drug. Now, the dog’s signals are enough for a search.

“When the dogs indicate they smell something, officers can now use that as probable cause,” Hackel said.

Late last month, members of a joint Oakland and Macomb County drug task force came across $160,000 in what they believe is drug money, hidden in a duffel bag in a truck cab.

Teddy, a member of Macomb’s canine unit, sniffed out the money because it contained traces of drugs.

A month earlier, Teddy led investigators to 750 pounds of Marijuana in a truck stopped at a Troy industrial park.

In the last two years, Hackel has added two dogs to take advantage of the law changes.

Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans said his deputies are “absolutely” coming across more Marijuana-related incidents in recent years.

In the nine-month period between January and September 2003, Wayne County seized 1,788 pounds of Marijuana through its task forces and routine patrols. In the 12-month period between September 2003 and August 2004, the department seized 4,317 pounds.

Both Wayne and Oakland counties have used Homeland Security funds to bolster interdiction teams monitoring criminal behavior along the U.S.-Canada border.

“In the last year, we’ve been able to step up our marine patrols as well as our security at the (Ambassador) bridge,” Evans said.

Who’s using all that pot?

Nationally, the 25-and-under crowd is turning away from Marijuana, said Dr. H. Westley Clark, director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.

But a study published in the Journal of American Medicine showed the number of adults who abuse or are dependent on Marijuana increased from 30.2 percent to 35.6 percent between 1992 and 2002.

“My sense is that it’s becoming more popular across southeast Michigan as a drug of choice,” said Oakland County’s Lt. Joe Quisenberry, referred to as “The Drug Czar” by his peers. “And that’s across age brackets.”

Hackel and his peers in Oakland and Wayne counties believe there are several factors driving the increase in the amount of Marijuana they see on the streets, including the evolution of the drug into a more potent form.

Tinkering with the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content in Marijuana, the ingredient that causes the “high” feeling, has produced versions of Marijuana that can be three times more potent than in the past.

Dan Whiting, 62, talks about his own Marijuana use in the past tense. As a counselor at Interventions in Mount Clemens, he uses his experience with pot and other drugs as a cautionary tale. But he remembers its attraction for kids.

“It puts you into a lull, depending on the individual,” Whiting said. “... You don’t like the way you feel, so you’re looking for something, anything, to get out of it.”

Jim Keener owns and operates River’s Bend treatment center in Troy, where they have seen a 25 percent increase since 1999 in the number of clients whose drug of choice is Marijuana.

“I’ve been doing this for 29 years,” he said. “It’s my belief that the increase is due, in part, to increased THC levels.”

You can reach Jim Lynch at (313) 222-2069 or jlynch@detnews.com.

hauptmann

Where is the key to that evidence locker?

They have to know that they are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. No matter how sophisticated law enforcement gets, growers and smugglers will be 1 step ahead. Prohibiting the use of a plant that grows everywhere around the world is not something that is easily enforced.

Sure technology and their pseudo understanding of the black market's methodology is helping them out with detection, getting busts here and there. But this is in no way stemming the tide in the War on Drugs. As they bust someone with 10 lbs there is a tractor trailer passing behind them with tons.

__________________
Marijuana.com Community Posting Guidelines

AlucardOrange3

“It puts you into a lull, depending on the individual,” Whiting said. “... You don’t like the way you feel, so you’re looking for something, anything, to get out of it.”

You're absolutely right Dan! That's why it's the most popular drug on the face of the planet: because it makes you dislike the way you feel and forces you to look for something/anything to make you come down from the high...wait a minute is anybody else wondering if this guy is a little off his rocker? Or perhaps he's never actually been high before?

And another major psychotic f*cking hatred of mine (as opposed to a 'pet peeve') is stuff like this:

"Tinkering with the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content in Marijuana, the ingredient that causes the “high” feeling, has produced versions of Marijuana that can be three times more potent than in the past."

Well is it 3 times more potent, or 10? Or maybe 5? Or maybe you're full of sh*t and failing to mention that all marijuana always varies in potency all the damn time everywhere.

AO3

__________________
"When a true genius appears in the world, you shall know him by this sign; that all the dunces are in confederacy against him." Jonathan Swift

Kool Keith

Why don't these people realize that they aren't winning the war on drugs. As long as we continue to smoke (which we will) there will always be big money to be made and people will keep setting up grow houses. I am so sick of this 'war'

ke1n

someone must have pocketed some of that stash once the camera was gone.

I have been to Michigan and yes the mj there is good.

Robsta

Marijuana is illegal because of dirty pricks that do this.

Robsta

And how cool does that rose monette chick think she is?

she wanted to be in that photo so much.

Frenchie

Tactics:

a common one is to seize the pager/cell phone and either have the dealer set up buys with his customers or a cop posing as his friend sets up buy/busts.

the use of k9's is nothing new, but the increased number may be. its easy to fool a cop, fooling a dog is much more difficult. the dog is tied to the shift of the cop however, and their usual hours run from about noon to 2 or 3 am. if the dog has been "working" a lot that day, their ability decreases as they get tired just like people do.

I have talked about thermal imaging. Last checked that was outlawed unless there was PC for a judge to approve on a warrant. the heat signature is huge when the grow lamps are all fired up.

dumb luck: i have made great felony bust on dumb luck. twice i seized an ounce of crack cocaine when the guy got into an argument with his girlfriend. He stopped the car, she got out, then he got out and followed her. the drugs, money and guns all left in plain sight when i happened along. BUSTED.

TAIL/HEAD LIGHT OUT or other minor traffic violation. this is a big one. i have dozens of stops that led to righteous drug and weapons arrests.

ALCOHOL: mixing any drug with alcohol is a great combination if you want to go to jail.

BURGLARY'S : my last drug op bust was a result of a trouble unknown in a nice neighborhood. upon arrival, i saw lots of blood drops leading away from the house. radioed dispatch to call the local hospitals knowing medical attention would be needed. house was empty but grow op in basement found. 30 minutes later, call came in. man getting stitched up in hospital ER. after filtering thru his lies, he said three armed masked men forced their way in, tied him and his girlfriend up and began harvesting his nearly ripe buds. he worked his way loose, fought with them then escaped outside whereby the robbers took the bootie and fled. in the fight, he received knife wounds. dont advertise your grow op, no matter how much pride you have in producing quality product, its worth in weight is as much as gold and we all know what gold does to otherwise honest people.

BURGLAR ALARMS: alarms attract the police. police snoop around looking for forced entry, open/unlocked doors/windows are invitations for the police to enter and look around...


if you going to make a business of anything and be successful... NEVER mix business with pleasure but human nature dictates otherwise and typically, people who smoke MJ or use drugs in general, lack self discipline.

king cola

Just maybe there is more arrests and out of those arrests more people are going in the drug treatment centers as an agreement with the court to get a clean record for their first offense arrest for marijuana. I don't know if every court orders this but when someone is arrested for marijuana or other drugs in the state I live in the court as part of probation will ask that the person go for a drug treatment evaluation. The evaluation under a drug arrest will require going to treatment for a certain amount of time.

nornerator

I would have to disagree with you on that. Some people who use cannabis and other drugs lack self discipline. The majority of cannabis and drug users are just as self disciplined as anyone else.

It may be that the majority of those that end up getting arrested lack self discipline, but not all.