Pubdate: Sun, 07 Oct 2007
Source: Honolulu Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2007 The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
Contact:  http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/195
Author: Kevin Dayton
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

HAWAII MARIJUANA FARMS MOVE INDOORS

HILO, Hawai'i -- Large-scale marijuana cultivation in  Hawai'i and
particularly on the Big Island is moving  indoors, and in the past two
years police have  uncovered increasing numbers of sophisticated
indoor  farming operations believed to produce millions of  dollars
worth of illegal crops.

The number of police raids on indoor growing operations  on the Big
Island nearly quadrupled from 2005 to 2006,  and is on a course to
increase again this year,  according to statistics provided by Big
Island police  Vice Division.

"Instead of just setting up plants out in the yard and  growing, or in
a greenhouse and letting the sunlight  come through, guys are building
roofs and buying tens  of thousands of dollars worth of equipment to
grow  marijuana plants inside," said East Hawai'i vice  officer John
Weber, a veteran of more than 150  marijuana investigations.

Statewide, the National Drug Intelligence Center also  reports the
number of indoor marijuana grow sites  appears to be increasing, with
the number of plants  seized in indoor grow operations jumping sharply
from  3,950 plants in 2005 to 12,358 plants in 2006.

There have been notable marijuana seizures on other  islands,
including the seizure of more than 6,000  plants on Kaua'i earlier
this year, but the Big Island  is believed to account for most of the
state's  marijuana crop. The island's large tracts of open land  and
isolated rural subdivisions offer privacy for  growers that may not be
available on other islands.

This year Big Island police have discovered a number of  homes and one
Puna warehouse devoted to marijuana  farming. Some operations featured
grow lights equipped  with timers, watering systems connected to the
plumbing  and growers who use sophisticated plant cloning  technology,
according to police and court records.

The controlled indoor environments allow growers to  produce a new
crop as often as every 90 days, according  to the newest Hawai'i High
Intensity Drug Trafficking  Area Drug Market Analysis.

HIDING SMELL, POWER USE

Farmers have been using air filters to try to mask the  pungent smell
of the plants, and fans to circulate air  within the farming
operations. In some cases the  growers tamper with their electrical
connections to  steal electricity from the power grid and hide how
much  power their grow lights and other equipment are  consuming.

To create more room to grow, marijuana farmers often  toss up
unpermitted additions to homes or additional  buildings, police said.

In one case last year, police say an alleged Big Island  marijuana
grower would set up other farmers in  business, going so far as to
erect greenhouses on other  people's properties and provide the
seedlings to get  new farmers started. The participants would then
either  split the profits or divide up the harvested marijuana,  Weber
said.

"It's a business. You can make a lot of money from  marijuana, guys
are making a lot of money," Weber said.  "When you have an indoor grow
with 500 plants in it,  that's not some poor guy who has a medical
condition  and has a permit and needs to have his marijuana to  make
himself feel better. That's some guy who's trying  to make money off
selling dope to our kids and our  family members."

Big Island Vice Detective Steven Correia said marijuana  farmers have
been moving indoors mostly because  helicopter eradication missions by
state, county and  federal authorities have been successful in
uprooting a  large share of the outdoor crops.

In one case in 2006, police yanked up about 50 adult  plants from the
boundaries of a lot in Hawaiian  Paradise Park, and then received a
tip earlier this  year that the couple living at the property had
moved  the operation indoors.

When officers raided the same property in June, they  found another 75
plants and an indoor growing  operation, according to court records.

Court records show police frequently identify indoor  growers simply
by flying over properties and spotting  marijuana plants. In other
cases, informants tip off  the authorities.

EASIER TO PROSECUTE

Indoor operations may be harder to find than outdoor  marijuana
patches, but authorities say it is much  easier to identify and
prosecute the owners of pot  plants being grown indoors.

It is also easier for prosecutors to file forfeiture  proceedings to
seize land used for indoor growing  operations, said Big Island Deputy
Prosecutor Mitch  Roth. With indoor grows, it is difficult for pot
farmers to invoke the so-called "innocent owner"  defense and claim
they didn't know the plants were  there, he said.

"It shows they are in this for the business, they're in  this to make
money," Roth said of the large-scale  indoor operations.

Court records show it is not uncommon for police to  raid a home and
seize plants, and then return to the  same address later, arrest the
same people, and seize  more plants.

Farmers may go right back to growing after a raid, but  when they lose
land, money and other property in  forfeiture proceedings "it does
make an impression on  people," Roth said.

'$500,000' RANCH HAUL

One forfeiture pending in Hilo Circuit Court involves  Volcano
resident David Finley Jr., 65, who was arrested  in 2006 after police
allegedly seized 290 plants from  Finley's 29-acre Volcano ranch.

Finley was arrested a second time on Jan. 29 in another  raid on his
Volcano property that turned up what police  say is the largest
seizure of dried marijuana and  hashish "in recent memory."

Officers allegedly found three indoor growing  operations on the
property, including a greenhouse  attached to Finley's home, equipment
for manufacturing  hashish and more than 75 pounds of dried marijuana
and  other drugs.

The dried marijuana found in a bedroom included 127  sealed 1-ounce
packets labeled with prices of $280 to  $300 each, according to court
records.

Authorities estimated the haul was worth $500,000,  although Finley
told police he considered the marijuana  to be worthless. He told
police that "I have been  having a very hard time selling this,"
according to  court records.

Finley was charged with two counts of first-degree  commercial
promotion of marijuana, which is punishable  by up to 20 years in
prison, and also faces other drug  and drug paraphernalia charges.

Authorities also filed to seize the Volcano ranch  property. That
forfeiture is being opposed by Finley's  wife, Mary, who said in court
records that she "did not  know such alleged activities were taking
place on our  property."

SEIZING CASH, 'TOYS'

Since there is big money involved, police frequently  seize large sums
of cash and "toys," such as off-road  vehicles, cars, trucks and
watercraft in raids on  growing operations, according to police and
court  records.

More ominously, police frequently seize firearms when  they raid the
farming operations.

"A lot of them arm themselves, because they're going to  protect their
livelihood ... so they protect themselves  against the competition, or
people coming to rip off  their marijuana," Weber said.

There are critics of the long-running campaign against  marijuana,
including longtime pro-marijuana activist  Roger Christie, who is
running for mayor of the Big  Island. Christie's Hawai'i Cannabis THC
Ministry  advocates use of marijuana for religious purposes, an
activity Christie argues is protected under the  Constitution.

Christie contends the overflights police use to spot  the illegal
plants amount to unconstitutional searches.

"We've got to bring back respect for the constitution  and the right
to privacy, or tyranny becomes the law of  the land," he said.

Such arguments do not impress Weber, who served 46  search warrants
last fiscal year and was chosen the  Hawai'i Police Department's 2007
Officer of the Year by  the Hawai'i State Law Enforcement Officials
Association.

Weber said police have to keep illegal drug trafficking  in check for
the benefit of the entire community.

"They can say whatever they like out there, but my job  as a law
enforcement officer is to enforce the law, and  marijuana ... unless
they have a medical permit and  under seven plants, is against the
law, and as long as  it is, that's my job and that's what I'm going to
do,"  he said.
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MAP posted-by: Steve Heath