Pot Busts in Months Net Huge Supply

http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_5586807

By Mark Petix Staff Writer - April 5, 2007

POMONA - One month, five major busts and tons of marijuana worth more than $36million.

The amount of marijuana seized by law enforcement in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties since March 7 is impressive.

But will the busts that began with the discovery of three tons of marijuana inside an abandoned truck in Ontario make a difference on the streets?

"Oh, it's a significant amount," said Art Marinello, task force commander for the San Bernardino County West End Narcotic Team. "But to put a number on it, or to say we're talking 50 percent or 10percent \ would be completely a guess on my part."

The recent discovery of sophisticated indoor grow houses in Diamond Bar and Chino Hills underscores just how far people are willing to go to meet the demand for high-end pot.

When L.A. County sheriff's deputies served warrants on homes in Diamond Bar and Chino Hills last week, they found about $12 million in high-grade marijuana and the sophisticated equipment needed to grow it.

Marinello says growers tapped into the power to bypass the electric meter and tapped natural gas lines to fuel generators feeding the plants CO2.

Timers controlled everything from water and nutrients to the grow lights.

"The light actually moves across the room like the sun," he said. "I tell you, these guys are into production."

Indoor growing allows marijuana cultivation year-round, says Manuel Ariza, deputy director of L.A. IMPACT, an inter-agency task force.

"The organizations have become very sophisticated," he said. "This is not a guy with two plants growing in the back yard."

Marinello said when he began working in law enforcement 28 years ago, $10 could buy a sandwich bag full of pot. Today, a pound of low-grade pot sells for between $300 and $340. He said a pound of high-grade pot goes for $2,500 to $6,000.

This is not your 1970s marijuana.

Ariza said pot once had THC levels of between 2 and 4 percent. THC is the chemical ingredient that gives marijuana its kick. Today's marijuana has THC levels as high as 20 percent.

The string of pot busts, including the discovery of 155 pounds of marijuana at a house in Pomona on Saturday, were a combination of luck and good information. "Obviously we talk to each other," Marinello said, "but this was not a coordinated event at all."

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