Pubdate: Tue, 15 Oct 2002 Source: Press Democrat, The (CA) Copyright: 2002 The Press Democrat Contact: http://www.pressdemo.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/348 Author: Steve Hart Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) 12 YEARS AFTER POT BUST, MAN PLEADS GUILTY SANTA ROSA - More than 12 years after narcotics investigators found 340 pounds of processed marijuana in a barn west of Santa Rosa, a former Marin County man has pleaded guilty in Sonoma County Superior Court to drug charges connected with the case. State drug agents said Craig Click Caughlan, 55, was part of a major smuggling ring that brought marijuana and cocaine into the United States from Mexico. Caughlan fled to Mexico after the Sonoma County bust in 1990 and has been living there ever since, authorities said. Los Angeles police arrested Caughlan at Los Angeles International Airport in June when he tried to enter the country. Caughlan's attorney, Ken Wine, said his client didn't know he was wanted in Sonoma County and said authorities never linked him to a major smuggling ring. Wine said Caughlan has a furniture business in Mexico and founded an environmental group in Puerto Vallarta. Under terms of his plea, Caughlan isn't likely to serve prison time for possession of marijuana for sale. Authorities never arrested anyone else in connection with the alleged smuggling ring and he isn't charged with conspiracy. Caughlan, who was living in Mill Valley at the time of the bust, was the target of an investigation by the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, according to court records. State agents obtained a search warrant from a Santa Clara County judge based on an affidavit stating Caughlan was part of a drug-smuggling conspiracy that operated in several western states, bringing Mexican marijuana by private planes into small U.S. airports. State narcotics agents followed Caughlan to several locations in Sonoma County, including an airport near Schellville and a 15-acre farm on Hall Road west of Santa Rosa. About a dozen state and Sonoma County narcotics officers raided the Hall Road property in January 1990, finding Caughlan with the processed marijuana inside a barn. But Caughlan was released and no warrant was issued for his arrest for almost two years. Deputy District Attorney Alexander McMahon declined to say why the warrant wasn't issued sooner, but he told Superior Court Judge Elliot Lee Daum that Caughlan knew he was wanted in the United States. Officials of the state Bureau of Narcotics didn't return calls for comment. Caughlan could face three years in prison when he's sentenced Nov. 22, but Daum indicated he'll impose probation and a county jail sentence. Wine said Caughlan has turned his life around since moving to Mexico. In additional to his woodworking business, he founded a nonprofit environmental organization called La Limpieza de la Bahia de Banderas, which sponsors yearly clean-ups at local beaches and rivers. Caughlan's group works with Mexican schools and the country's secretary of education to promote clean water programs, according to a Web site. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D