Notorious Mexican drug cartels have their tentacles in Utah, and the top drug enforcement agent in Utah calls it “the greatest threat to public safety.” “The traffickers made no money in Utah last year, and this is about greed,” said Frank Smith, DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge of Utah. “If we can stop them from making a profit, they’re going to go away.” But that won’t happen right away, and the Smith warned Utahns to be cautious in the backcountry this spring and summer.

He said Mexican drug cartels are developing and hiding more large-scale marijuana grows on our state’s public lands, especially in southern Utah. Federal agents are waging a war against those cartels.

Dateline NBC’s Chris Hansen tackled the topic last night on the program. Monday, KSL talked with Hansen and Smith about just how dangerous these farms are to the people of Utah. Smith what keeps him up at night is the fear that innocent people will stumble into a confrontation.

“They steal the land, they steal the water, and then they decimate the environment,” Smith said.

He’s passionate about busting marijuana farms on public lands. He said they couldn’t do it without the help of local and state resources in Utah’s southern counties. They’ve been fighting pot farms for years, but the enemy has changed.
The drug team spent many hours gathering intelligence, hiking to remote pot farms and setting up surveillance to gather even more evidence. They raided one growing operation with the Dateline crew, as the cartel’s farmers and armed guards fled.

Chris Hansen said he was amazed buy what he witnessed.

“It was massive, and it looked like it had been professionally grown in a green house someplace,” Hansen said. “It’s a sophisticated operation with irrigation. These were very mature plants, and in some cases these were worth $20 to $40 million on the street.”

Each of the last two summers, Mexican drug cartels took over large tracts of Utah wilderness and set up dozens of these sophisticated, irrigated operations. Smith estimates they know where 25 percent to 35 percent of the grows are located.

“Last year we eradicated over 78,000 plants,” he said. “So, it’s a half a billion to a billion dollar industry, here in Utah alone.”

The cartels sell the marijuana in the U.S. and send the money back to Mexico to help continue to run their criminal enterprises. The crews are armed and dangerous.

“What’s going to happen when a family of hikers stumbles across one of these grows?” Hansen asked. “With $20 to $40 million on the line, do you think these growers are just going to let these people go? No.”

That is Smith’s greatest fear. Two years ago, he said, a cartel gunman held several teen girls at gunpoint in Garfield County before the DEA hunted him down.

“They don’t care about the well-being of American citizens or the well-being of our environment,” he said.

According to Smith, the cartel crews dump illegal fertilizers into the ground, along with human waste, and other trash. The agents even discover multiple car batteries for used for charging their cell phones, to keep in touch with their bosses.

Last summer, KSL showed some of their success as the DEA worked with Utah law enforcement to arrest nearly 40 drug growers. Smith said the number of farms dropped last year, too.

“So, we’re having success,” he said. “We just have to be diligent. We have to be strong and not yield to these traffickers.”

If you come across a marijuana grow, agents say, leave immediately, go back the way you came and call law enforcement. If you have a GPS device, take down the coordinates. Otherwise, make note of substantial landmarks so you can help law enforcement find it later.

Attorney Bob Draskovich believes the Legislature “violated the will of the people” by passing a medical marijuana law that provides no way for a patient to legally obtain the substance. Draskovich and his law partners on Monday lauded District Judge Donald Mosley’s ruling last week that declared the state’s law allowing medical marijuana distribution unconstitutional. Mosley’s decision, first reported by the Review-Journal, set the stage for a Supreme Court showdown as it conflicted with a fellow judge’s ruling that found the same law valid.

“We have one district court that’s saying medicinal marijuana is unconstitutional and we have another saying the exact opposite. We’re hoping the Nevada Supreme Court addresses this split in the district (courts) as soon as possible,” Draskovich said.

District Attorney Steve Wolfson did not return a call requesting comment on Mosley’s ruling.

As it stands, one Nevada law allows medical marijuana cardholders to possess, deliver or produce minute amounts of marijuana for pain relief. But other state laws make it illegal to buy or sell marijuana, leaving no realistic way for patients to obtain the herb.

Prosecutors say local marijuana dispensary staff suggested a specific cash donation for the marijuana, which under state law qualifies as “consideration” and is illegal. Also, the dispensaries were growing an abundance of marijuana plants, more than the seven plants allowed under the medical marijuana law.

Under the constitutional amendment, ratified by Nevada voters in 2000, “the Legislature shall provide by law for …appropriate methods for supply of the plant to patients authorized to use it.”

Draskovich said the only way a patient can now legally possess marijuana is to first commit a crime to obtain it.

By not clearing the way for a patient to legally obtain marijuana, the Legislature failed to abide by the amendment to the state constitution that led to the enactment of the law, the lawyer explained.

More than a dozen defendants in several cases are facing criminal charges for distributing medical marijuana. The defendants say they were trying to fill a void left by the Legislature and supply medical marijuana to patients unable to grow it themselves.

But authorities have cracked down and closed nearly all the local entities distributing marijuana to state-registered patients because, the authorities allege, the cooperatives are violating Nevada criminal law.

Meanwhile, if the state’s high court takes up the issue, it either could direct the district courts to move forward with trials based on the criminal statutes or force the Legislature to review the medical marijuana law.

Four years ago, the state decriminalized the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, punishing lawbreakers with a $100 fine. Since then, some towns have decided to put more bite into the measure with their own fines, some as high as $400. Just this week, Holliston Police Chief John Moore proposed adding a $300 fine for public use of marijuana. Ashland, Bellingham and Marlborough are among the communities with higher fines for smoking in public. “It’s to prevent people from standing outside on the street smoking weed,” said Marlborough Sgt. Richard Gaudette.

In Marlborough, the fine is $100 for possession and $300 for use in public.
Gaudette said most are charged $400, but a person can be charged only $300 if they smell like pot but aren’t found to have any on them.
You walk up to somebody on the sidewalk and before you get there they’ve already finished smoking it,” he said.
The attorney general’s office approves all new local bylaws. The state law sets the fine at $100.
“It doesn’t say that they can’t write their own bylaws and ordinances that would regulate its consumption,” said Terrel Harris, spokesman for the Executive Office of Public Sa fety.
In Ashland you can be charged $300, and the town clerk said four people in 2011 paid that fine.
Some officers said the fee is difficult to enforce because a loophole in the state law doesn’t punish people who don’t pay.
In Hopkinton, Sudbury, Milford, Hopedale and Mendon, the fine is $100.
Some departments said enforcement is at officers’ discretion.
Ashland Police spokesman Lt. Richard Briggs said people with a small amount of marijuana sometimes aren’t fined. The department wrote about a dozen citations last year, according to Briggs.
Sudbury Detective Wayne Shurling said the $100 fine is usually enforced. “The majority of the time people are given fines,” he said.
“If you’re constantly dealing with repeat offenders and you’ve already given them breaks, maybe it’s the next step you need to take,” said Hopedale Lt. Don Martin.
In Holliston, where the chief wants to increase the fine, the town clerk’s office said 29 people paid the fine last year.
The state law also includes additional penalties for minors, including parental notification.
“Sometimes good old-fashioned phone calls, especially if they’re minors, to mom or dad, will usually handle the situation,” Martin said.
He said the department issues between five and 10 citations a year.

Hundreds of private planes fly in and out of small local airports every day. Inside one twin-engine Cessna aircraft at the Oakland County Airport in Pontiac was more than 200 pounds of marijuana. According to federal court records, Kona Barbera was the man behind the drug delivery now being called “Mission Marijuana.” Barbera is from New York. His plan was to fly high-quality marijuana from Lincoln, Calif. to Oakland County, Mich. He has been trying to get rich by flying the drugs across the country.

He needed a pilot. That’s where Yigal Hezi stepped in. Hezi was piloting the Cessna with tail No. N799.

The duo’s plan was foiled in Oakland County when federal investigators met them at the airport.

But Mission Marijuana has helped shed light on what is becoming a popular way of transporting illegal drugs.

The Local 4 Defenders’ aviation insider is a pilot and retired law enforcement official. He has been spilling the beans on a secret. He says transporting drugs across country by car provides hundreds of possibilities of running into law enforcement. However, transporting drugs by air is much easier with a much lower chance of getting busted.

“There is nobody keeping track of you,” the Defenders aviation insider said. “You can come in and land and park. People do it everyday.”

Passengers at major airports go through metal detectors and X-ray machines. Luggage is scanned and often looked through. But no one ever checks passengers, pilots or luggage on a private plane. Pilots of private planes are not required to file a flight plan and if they avoid controlled airspace they never have to check in with air traffic controllers.

“There are many more airports in the country that do not have control towers than do,” the aviation insider said.

Barbera and Hezi were caught only because they made so many trips from California to Michigan. Lincoln, Calif. is a known hotbed for illegal marijuana growing operations. An alert enforcement aviation specialist notified Homeland Security and customs in Metro Detroit who then searched the plane. The men, both of New York, now will be spending more time in Michigan, in jail. Their trial is scheduled for May 22.

Law enforcement caught the duo because workers in the control tower were paying attention.

A new national program is teaching those who live near or work at airports to be the eyes and ears for authorities.

Sixteen states, as well as the District of Columbia, have legalized the use of medical marijuana. A statewide group is looking to take it a step further, however, and legalize all marijuana use in Missouri.
A group of about 65 volunteers have been hitting the streets in St. Joseph, looking for supporters of Show-Me Cannabis, an association that seeks to legalize and regulate marijuana use in the state. Missouri’s Secretary of State requires 150,000 signatures on a statewide petition by May 6 in order for a legalization measure to appear on November’s ballot.

Amber Langston, campaign director for Show-Me Cannabis, said they have about 12,000 signatures from across the state on hand, but expect there are more signatures that volunteers have yet to turn in.
“We have around 1,000 petitioners, and we just launched an online volunteer training, so we anticipate things to continue to ramp up,” she said.
Bart Brower, field director in St. Joseph, said the group of local volunteers meets at the East Hills Library every Saturday to discuss the initiative and to strategize ways to garner support.
Those volunteers range from people 18 years old to 60; Mr. Brower himself is 45 and does not smoke cannabis, he said. He’s also seen a range of supporters, from college kids to an elderly woman who said she would support legalization if marijuana would help her arthritis.
“This is not the stereotypical hippie movement any more,” he said. “People are ready for change.”
Their weekly meetings are also educational opportunities for volunteers, as well as for the public. On Saturday, Betty Taylor, the former police chief in Winfield, Mo., discussed her view of marijuana prohibition, as well as that of the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, of which she is a member.
“We’ve had 40 years to prove that the war on drugs has succeeded, and it hasn’t; it’s failed. Miserably,” she said.
Ms. Taylor, who is now a professor of criminal justice, said law enforcement should be focusing on other, more violent crimes, such as rape and murder. She said she teaches her students that marijuana was made illegal through fear-mongering, but the drug has not proved to be an initiator of violence in the 70 years it has been illegal.
A representative from the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force could not be reached for comment on the initiative. However, the Drug Enforcement Administration has released several papers on its view on marijuana legalization.
“Drug abuse, and this nation’s response to it, is one of the most important and potentially dangerous issues facing American citizens — and especially its youth — today,” says one of its papers, “Speaking Out Against Drug Legalization.”
The DEA presents its top 10 facts on legalization, the first stating that the War on Drugs has caused overall drug use to decrease by more than a third in the last 20 years.
Additionally, the paper argues that drug prevention needs to have a balance of enforcement and treatment for it to be successful and that, unless enforced, drug use and violence will continue to go hand in hand.
The Show-Me Cannabis initiative suggests Missouri voters approve marijuana regulation that is similar to alcohol regulation. Users would have to be 21 or over; anyone looking to sell marijuana would need a license; and any marijuana grown for personal use would be limited to a 10-by-10-foot plot. There is also wording that allows medical marijuana to be prescribed by doctors and agricultural hemp to be cultivated by farmers.
Marijuana would also be taxed like alcohol and cigarettes — in the case of cannabis the group suggests $100 per pound — which would create additional income for Missouri, supporters say.
The Show-Me Cannabis initiative meets at East Hills Library every Saturday between 2 and 4 p.m., and is looking for volunteers or donations.

An Allen County police officer trying to serve court papers had gone to the house on Sand Point Road twice. Both times, James E. McClurg answered the door and closed it behind him as he quickly came outside to speak with the officer. Both times, the officer noticed a strong odor of raw marijuana coming from the house, according to an affidavit filed Friday in U.S. District Court. These observations, authorities said, prompted another Allen County officer to surveil the house on Feb. 2 and 3. While doing so, the same potent odor of raw marijuana struck his nostrils.

The scent, along with other evidence, led investigators to obtain a search warrant, and on Thursday, the county drug task force and SWAT team raided 3830 Sand Point Road, police said.

In the three-bedroom house across from the former Elmhurst High School, officers discovered an elaborate hydroponic marijuana-growing operation with 304 plants worth $500,000, according to authorities.

Police found grow lights, watering systems and plants in various stages of development in the basement and on the first and second floors. They also came across fertilizer, a drying rack and boxes of processed marijuana ready for sale, the affidavit said.

McClurg, 46, who was home when officers came through the door, told police he started his growing operation in August 2008 with 11 plants. He moved the operation to Michigan in early 2009 for about 18 months, but he eventually returned to the Sand Point Road home that he was renting, the affidavit stated.

Until January 2009, he had been raising marijuana for his own use, but after losing his job, he enlarged his operation and started selling the drug to support himself, according to the affidavit.

Each week, McClurg harvested 19 ounces of marijuana and earned $5,000 through sales, he told police. With grow lights each running 12 hours a day, his monthly power bills typically reached $1,300, the affidavit said.

The bust resulted in a federal charge accusing McClurg of manufacturing more than 100 marijuana plants. He was also preliminarily charged in Allen Superior Court with receiving stolen auto parts because police officers found a stolen 2010 Harley-Davidson motorcycle at his home, police said.

He was being held without bail Friday at the Allen County Jail.

Students with a medical marijuana card shouldn’t bring their supply to campus. Marijuana is an illegal drug according to the federal government and therefore it can’t, and shouldn’t, be on campus. Proposition 203, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, made it legal for people, in Arizona, with a doctor’s permission, to possess and smoke marijuana. However, the federal government can withhold funding if a school allows it. Rep. Amanda Reeve, R-Phoenix, to cover the state’s bases, sponsored House Bill 2349, which bans the possession and usage of medical marijuana at any educational institution.

The House Education Committee passed the bill last week.

“Educational institution means any public or private university, college, community college, postsecondary educational institution, high school, junior high school, middle school, common school or preschool in this state,” according to the bill. In other words, the bill will cover all schools that receive federal aid, contracts, grants or loans through the Drug-Free Workplace and the Drug-Free Schools and Communities acts.

Reeve said she wants to clarify what Prop. 203 calls “public places,” ­— which unintentionally includes schools — so the state won’t lose any federal funding.

One of the acts specifically mandates that, “Students in general and recipients of Pell Grant are required to comply.” And who gets Pell Grants? Why, college students, of course.

After marijuana was legalized for medical use the Arizona Board of Regents restated its drug ban because the regents knew schools must comply with the drug-free acts.

Arizona is not the first state to have conflicting marijuana laws.

University of Colorado at Boulder requires all its first-year freshmen to live on campus. But, according to the Denver Post, after a potential lawsuit, university officials allowed a student to live off campus because she had a medical marijuana card.

No college is willing to risk losing federal funding, and as long as Arizona’s regents continue to comply with drug policies, the UA can keep its funding. Reeve is merely offering further protection to schools by making the regents’ decision a statewide law.

As it’s written, Proposition 203 is specific when it comes to hospitals, hospices, and any healthcare institution, but the proposition is too vague when it comes to schools. The state needs to have a uniform set of laws and regulations to ensure that colleges and universities comply with federal mandates.

City police looking for a runaway juvenile stumbled onto a marijuana “grow operation,” seized more than 40 pot plants and arrested two apartment house neighbors. Mark W. Horner, 53, of the 100 block of South Street, faces counts of drug manufacturing, possession with intent to deliver, drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was jailed in lieu of $40,000 bond. Joseph M. Bravo, 49, of an apartment in the same building, was charged with drug paraphernalia and false identification to law enforcement. He was jailed in lieu of $20,000 bond.

The case began Friday evening when Officer Erin Kabler was asked by Adams Township police if he would check out a South Street apartment. A 17-year-old runaway was believed to be at the residence where Bravo and his son, Joseph J. Bravo, lived.

Kabler said in court papers he was unable to find a clearly marked address or entrance, and made his way up outside steps to the rear of the residence.

A man later identified as Joseph M. Bravo came to the door at Horner’s apartment.

“Who the —- are you? Do you have a ——- warrant?” Bravo allegedly demanded.

Kabler asked the man if he was Joseph Bravo, and the man said no and provided a false name.

Kabler said he saw a marijuana pipe and numerous liquor bottles on the kitchen table and countertop. He said he was placing the man under arrest for possession of the pot pipe in clear view of the doorway.

As the officer was handcuffing Bravo, he heard other people moving about inside the residence and called for backup.

Officers secured the residence and began to talk with Horner, who said he wouldn’t answer any questions.

According to court papers, police “observed several marijuana plants in one room with lighting, a humidifier and other items used in the cultivation of marijuana. The windows to this room had thick foam board covering them.

“These affiants also observed an area which had thick reflective foil along the wall and stretched across a corner of the room. Behind the foil were numerous marijuana plants of various stages of growth. These plants were under large lights,” the complaint stated.

Pot also was found in a glass tank, where it apparently was being dried. Heat lamps, aquariums, dryers and plant food were among items seized after a search warrant was issued at the Kernville apartment.

Police said they had discovered a similar operation at a former address of Mark Horner.

Johnstown police Capt. Andrew Frear didn’t have a street value for the seized marijuana. He said Monday that the investigation is continuing.

Both Horner and Bravo were arraigned by on-call District Judge Michael Musulin. Their preliminary hearings before District Judge Leonard Grecek – scheduled for Thursday – likely will be postponed, court officials said.

A 29-year-old Kalispell man was sentenced to one year and one day in prison with seven years of supervised release Wednesday during U.S. District Court proceedings in Missoula. Tyler Roe had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana after it was discovered that he, Michael Kassner and others had been operating a marijuana grow operation in Olney. The owner of the building in which it was located had transformed the interior into a growing facility.

A search on March 14, 2011, led to the seizure of approximately 718 marijuana plants.
Roe considered himself the “on-site manager” of the Black Pearl dispensary.
Roe lived on the premises along with Kassner, who also has pleaded guilty to federal charges. Roe said his job was to do construction work and take care of the plants
He was also ordered to pay a special assessment of $100.
The investigation that led to the charges was a cooperative effort between U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and the Northwest Montana Drug Task Force.
Dispensary owner Ryan Blindheim has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana and money laundering.