2011 Norcal Intel

[megayields]

Petaluma/NorCal alert - Illegal grow busted

Petaluma/NorCal alert - Illegal grow busted

A raid on an illegal grow operation in Petaluma yielded about 4,500 marijuana plants that were confiscated by authorities, the Marin County Sheriff’s office said Tuesday.

The quarter-mile large operation was discovered Monday when a warden with the state Department of Fish and Game ran into a man walking along the 1400 block of Marshall-Petaluma Road at about 11 a.m.

The man was wearing camouflage clothing and carrying pruning clippers, said Lt. Barry Heying of the sheriff’s office.

Investigators connected the man with the nearby grow operation, which sprawled over water district land, according to Heying. In a raid that continued well into Tuesday afternoon, they found thousands of the five-foot tall plants that were cared for with fertilizer and an elaborate irrigation system that fed from natural springs.

As with many illegal grow operations, there were also signs of pollution from pesticides and other chemicals, erosion damage and litter.

The man stopped by the warden was the only arrest made in the grow operation. Authorities did not release his identity, but said he was in the country illegally and is now in custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Anyone with information on this grow operation should contact the sheriff’s office at (415) 473-7233, or the anonymous Bay Area Crime stoppers tip line at (800) 222-TIPS.

 

[supermanlives]

good luck guys.^^^ carrying clippers? in his hand or did they find em in backpack? would be really dumb to have em right in your hand to be seen by anyone. i had clippers in my pack even when hunting. and i only put on camo upon entering woods if there was any chance of me being seen.

 

[northstate]

Feds are in Mt.Shasta and Anderson kicking in the doors of the little dispensaries, wrecking the place and leaving with the computers...I know it's standard but just thought I would share. Quiet on all other fronts and as usual, keep the water flowing and stay safe everybody.NS

 

[Al Botross]

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/politics/why-dea-trying-cover-agencys-medical-marijuana-raids


The Drug Enforcement Administration raided two medical marijuana dispensaries in California yesterday. The agency is now refusing to disclose any details of the raid, according to Redding.com:


Federal drug agents Wednesday raided a pair of medical marijuana collectives in Anderson and Mount Shasta.

DEA agents served federal search warrants at the Green Heart locations in both cities, Special Agent Casey Rettig said.

However, documents relating to the warrants and the warrants themselves are sealed in federal court, Rettig said. She couldn't provide a court case number.

Owner Gina Munday was notified by her alarm company Wednesday morning, thinking someone had broken in, she said. The DEA officers had kicked in the door, she said.

"They broke all the windows, vandalized the inside of the building and took all of the medicine," Munday said. "We were so surprised."

As with dozens of other DEA raids on medical marijuana businesses, no one was arrested at either dispensary, yet all documentation concerning the raid--the warrant, inventory of seized assets, and the incident report--were sealed by court order at the DEA and respective U.S. Attorney's request.

This is all part of a strategy that dates back to at least 2009. It goes like this: With permission from the U.S. Attorney's office, the DEA raids a dispensary, seizing marijuana but also cash and electronics; it makes no arrests, but asks a judge to seal every document pertaining to the operation and refuses to talk about it with the press. This has two effects: It implies that an investigation is ongoing (even if it's not); more perniciously, it makes it difficult to learn where and how often these raids are happening.

Two years ago, when I worked at The Daily Caller, I did a comparison of local reports of raids versus press releases from the DEA and U.S. Attorney's offices. Here's what I found:


Late last week, DEA and FBI agents raided five medical marijuana dispensaries in Nevada. In July, DEA agents raided the home of 65-year-old Mendocino County, California, grower Joy Greenfield and confiscated plants, money, and her computer. Also in July, DEA agents raided the home of a couple in Michigan who were licensed by the state to use marijuana, as well as three medical marijuana dispensaries in San Diego. In January and February of this year, the DEA raided two medical marijuana research labs in Colorado.

In all of the above cases, the DEA and the U.S. Attorneys’ offices issued no press releases and held no press conferences. The websites for DEA and the U.S. Attorneys’ offices in Detroit, Denver, Northern California, and Los Angeles (which also handles cases in Nevada) make no mention of the above dispensary raids, but do feature news releases for raids, arrests, and investigations involving harder drugs, as well marijuana trafficking, which is illegal in all states.

According to Americans for Safe Access spokesman Kris Hermes, this is one of the more notable differences at Obama’s DOJ, where Bush-appointee Michele Leonhart is now Obama’s choice to run the Drug Enforcement Agency. “There was a time under the Bush administration that [the DEA and U.S. Attorneys] were quite proud of their attempts to undermine state marijuana laws,” Hermes told The Daily Caller.

“Either these are rogue DEA agents and U.S. Attorneys operating in violation of Holder’s memo, or the DEA and the DOJ want to be able to go about continuing a policy of undermining state marijuana laws without drawing attention.”

While the lack of press releases and the use of sealed records are two different issues, they go hand in hand. Sealing a record gives the DEA and the DOJ a perfectly legitimate reason to say no comment to whoever raises questions about these operations, even if the records are sealed on spurious grounds. Joy Greenfield, mentioned above, was never arrested, yet the files surrounding her case were sealed at the DEA's request. Is the investigation into her grow operation ongoing? Are there any charges pending against her? Was she involved in a gang? The DEA won't say--can't say!--because her file was sealed by court order shortly after her home was raided.

As a result, tax payers, dispensary owners, caregivers, and sick people are all left in the dark about why these raids are happening, and more importantly, what the DEA does with the assets it seizes.

And while I don't know how the two might tie together, it's interesting that at the same time the DOJ is sealing records of raids (including warrants, affidavits, incident reports, and inventories of seized items), FOIA denials at the DEA have gone through the roof.

 

[megayields]

Natures Love Collective in Vallejo, CA got shut down AGAIN...lol (read the Weedmaps reviews of the site funny reading), KTVU just broadcast this is the 2nd or 3rd time it has been shut down......

 

[stasis]

Relatively Mellow for Mid-Sept. up in Mendo Coastal. Just don't stand out, watch out for Teenagers and Service Workers, and it's OK. No Drama allowed in Sept., Oct..

I DID notice a BIG uptick in the amount of LEO vehicles around in the last week. So, use your turn signals..!!

Pretty Solid Folks here. We don't even look at people we don;t know at this time of year. Maybe Women. All 3 of them. haha..

My Whole neighborhood is growing. Everyone on their own, but in a Crisis, well, I'd hate to be a robber.. Neighbors have Infrared, etc.. Apparently we have Wolves in the neighborhood, He saw them on the camera, with my Partner's Dog running with them at 4am.. haha..

The Vagrant Fiskars Patrol is around town, with their dogs, as are people casing out properties. I am well hidden. But, the greenies stink..!! A Varietal Salad odour Off The Charts, because I am doing the Cheese Contest between 5 new moms. Nothing smells more than Cheese..!

Doing Bong Rips of Casey Jones 80 days flower. Perfect. Waiting for the Sun to burn off the DAMN DRIZZLE..!!!!

Jointed One - - - I actually agree with you, but - These are wise, helpful and friendly people here. Not the people you are addressing.

Yes4 has it right. Even in the Emerald, the Local Scene is mostly Mid-grade. Including Indoor, people cut corners in huge ways. Boutique-Quality is rare, here, and everywhere in the World.

Hang in there..!! Another Day In the Books. Eyes on the Prize. Keep Chill !! <-- my adages.

 

[megayields]

Traffic stop leads to drug arrest

Traffic stop leads to drug arrest

Note to self: Do not drive drunk, on a suspended license, carry $100K in cash and carry bud! LOL

============================================

A Friday night traffic stop led to the arrest of a Fortuna driver who allegedly had marijuana and nearly $100,000 cash in his vehicle, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies stopped a vehicle for minor traffic violations at about 11 p.m. Sept. 14 and spoke with the driver, Christopher Eichiner, 26, of Fortuna.

Eichiner's driver's license was suspended, according to the MCSO, and deputies were also told there was marijuana in the vehicle. Deputies searched the vehicle and found marijuana and over $90,000 cash hidden in snack boxes in the vehicle's trunk, according to the MCSO.

Eichiner was arrested and booked at the Mendocino County jail under $20,000 bail.

 

[stasis]

Hate when that happens...! Someone with a Blue Jumpsuit and a silly hat just got a Bonus.... But seriously Folks, one of my rules is that it is unwise to be on the roads at all after dark ridin' even moderately dirty in this corner of the Triangle. Too few other vehicles, hard not to stand out.

 

[Yes4Prop215]

^yea late night is the worst, especially because they are out looking for DUI drivers..one time had to hastily plan an alternate route through marysville when they set up a checkpoint on the main street, and i had 20 2 foot plants covered in garbage bags in the back of my rental lol....never again!


says the guy who just sped up my mountain at 1130pm tonight.....

 

[megayields]

BUT good work using a rental......when I was taking my "medicine" to LA years ago, I always got rental van or some very small sub-compact to look as "normal" as possible...but then I'm paranoid.

 

[megayields]

Embedded reporters from The Daily rode along as officers from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office and other agencies teamed up to raid an illegal marijuana farm in Northern California.

NOTE: Notice the Blue and White LOCH helicopter for future intel purposes, most of you know this copter but it's nice to get a visual for future reference.

9-14-12
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Video

[YOUTUBEIF]D2_W3uqLkoY[/YOUTUBEIF]

 

[minds_I]

Hello all,

The Loch was flying north and south parallel to 101 yesterday here in the 707.

minds_I

 

[stasis]

Nowadays, LEO/CHP targets Rental Cars... But, in the Metro it is easier to blend in for sure..

The Punks in Blue are onto the fact that people up to "No Good" are not using their Toyota Pickups as much as they used to. Although I love the low-density traffic on a daily basis - when vulnerable (rare for me) I abhor the lack of other vehicles..!! Especially at night, locally.

 

[mr.shiva]

a little bird told me where I can find a 'money gun' installation on the 101, I'm going to check it out next time I'm headed that way, I'll snap some pics if I find it. Almost wonder if it's a plate reader courtesy of the new HIDTA designation. Anyhow, randomly heard about it ... I'll report back.

 

[Grant Holt]

Supervisor Mark Lovelace’s Aerial Tour of Humboldt Supergrows (With Photos!)

http://lostcoastoutpost.com/2012/aug/30/supervisor-mark-lovelaces-aerial-tour-humboldt-sup/

http://lostcoastoutpost.com is where I get my North Coast News

 

[Grant Holt]

Here is another great story

That involves Bear Pepper Spray, alleged rippers, kidnapping, and small children

http://kymkemp.com/2012/sep/19/four-men-allegedly-try-kidnap-and-pepper-spray-chi/

 

[mr.shiva]

Way to go little Bohn, son of the newly elected Supervisor ; Way to "keep it real" 'chappelle style'

the lost coast outpost in general has a lot of whats going on with cannabis in the triangle.

 

[feenom]

yuba county foothills got hit

 

[MrSterling]

Here is another great story

That involves Bear Pepper Spray, alleged rippers, kidnapping, and small children

http://kymkemp.com/2012/sep/19/four-men-allegedly-try-kidnap-and-pepper-spray-chi/

Jesus, what idiots. Keeping it real gone wrong indeed. Meanwhile you have a dozen suggestions just like this in a ripper thread here in this subforum. Stuff like "get bear pepper spray" and "rippers have no face or age", and suggestions of dumping bodies in the desert. Even if it's all empty talk, it's so ridiculous.

 

[Yes4Prop215]

damn thats a big list of felony charges...should have just taken the loss. now they are facing 10+ years in prison, kidnapping, assault w deadly weapon, child endangerment yikes....

that lostcoast site has some real interesting stuff on there...man the triangle seems HOT....scared to go up that ways.