Pubdate: Sun, 17 Nov 2013
Source: Ukiah Daily Journal, The (CA)
Copyright: 2013 The Ukiah Daily Journal
Contact: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/feedback
Website: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/581
Author: Tiffany Revelle

TASK FORCE: MAJORITY IN MENDOCINO COUNTY IN MARIJUANA INDUSTRY

More than half of Mendocino County's population are growers, sellers,
distributors, brokers or trimmers in the less-than-legal and largely
underground marijuana industry, Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force
Commander Rich Russell estimates.

"I could stay busy just following around souped-up trucks with
19-year-olds driving them," Russell half-joked, talking Thursday about
trends law enforcement is seeing.

The black market is keeping the price high, he said, but not in
California. While local market saturation means a grower can get
between $1,200 and $2,000 at the most in Mendocino County for a pound
of trimmed, dried bud, the same pound would fetch up to $5,000 per
pound from an East Coast buyer, according to Russell.

"Local growers are frustrated because the price has gone down
locally," Russell said. "They distribute to cannabis clubs to get
twelve-hundred to two thousand dollars a pound; they make less profit,
and the cannabis clubs ship it east. It's going out the back door."

The dispensaries also turn a profit selling the cannabis to buyers out
the front door, he noted. But local growers' frustration goes deeper
than that.

"More and more, what we're seeing is that people are moving here to
grow, and they export it to their home state for more money," Russell
said, describing what he sees as a swelling trend. "I've been here six
years, and it's doubled every year I've been here."

Typical of the free market, the sellers who have connections with
top-paying buyers back east make the most money. Enterprising locals
make between $100 and $200 per pound for brokering those connections
for Mendocino County natives and other growers who don't otherwise
have them, Russell noted.

"There's tons of marijuana moving out of this county," he
said.

It's a regular occurrence for exporters to mail the bud via FedEx or
regular mail.

"One hundred pounds of bud is commonly known as a box," Russell
said.

The Task Force finds most of the indoor gardens it eventually raids by
following up on leads from out-of-state law enforcement agencies whose
investigations lead them to Mendocino County exporters, according to
Russell.

Task Force agents wouldn't have to go outside Ukiah to stay busy,
according to Russell, and there are so many grow sites that the team
can pick and choose what to investigate based on the size of the
garden, the location and the suspect or suspects.

"We're fighting the good fight," Russell said of the Task Force's
eradication efforts. "We try to keep the commercial grows down, but
we're hugely outnumbered. I don't have the resources to do the job to
the degree where it would have a great effect, and the growers know
it."

Agents find large gardens in remote areas and urban gardens alike
while flying over the county and on the ground during unrelated
investigations, he said. Expensive helicopter rides aren't always
needed when agents only need to consult Google Earth to find outdoor
gardens locally.

"We've been busy all summer eradicating large amounts of marijuana,"
Russell said. "It was twice as bad this year as last year, and the
commercial gardens are twice as many."

Another disturbing trend, he said, is that the Mexican nationals found
tending illicit marijuana gardens primarily in the forests and on
public lands in years prior "are moving to urban areas and growing
indoors or in their back yards."

He added, "We used to work methamphetamine and heroin (cases) a lot
more, and now we're finding that there's always marijuana associated
with it. It's a year-round job, and it just doesn't slow down."

A few of the summer's large busts

During an Oct. 30 raid in the 8000 block of Spyrock Road in
Laytonville, agents found more than 6,400 pounds of marijuana. Some of
it was found hanging and drying in a 7,000 square-foot shop and three
greenhouses, and agents found more in 200 airtight, 20-gallon
containers, according to Russell. The marijuana had been harvested
from 150 to 200 plants in at least four gardens that were spotted in
an overflight, he said.

Daniel Andres, 21, and Jose Garcia, 26, both Mexican nationals, were
arrested on suspicion of cultivating and selling marijuana, according
to Russell. The Task Force is seeking additional suspects in that operation.

During an Oct. 29 raid in the 4000 block of Dos Rios Road in
Laytonville, agents seized more than 1,000 pounds of processed
marijuana and arrested six Mexican nationals, according to Russell.
Those arrested were Faustino Bahena, 31; Jessica Bahera, 19; Luisa
Bautista, 54; Daisy Hunasta, 25; Carlos Reyes, 32; and Rodrigo Roma,
45.

The suspects had run from the scene, and Russell said agents were
"lucky" to apprehend them all. Agents also found three firearms,
including a rifle, a shotgun and a handgun.

On Oct. 17, agents served a search warrant in the 36000 block of
Mendocino Pass Road in Covelo, where they seized about 300 pounds of
processed marijuana and six firearms, including two assault weapons,
according to Russell.

Agents additionally seized about 23 grams of psilocybin (psychedelic)
mushrooms, he said, adding that a personal dosage is about a gram.
That find indicated the intent to sell, according to Russell.

Agents also found "bomb-making materials," he said, including large,
steel ball bearings, gunpowder, other chemicals used to cause an
explosion and "at least a dozen fuses," all in a box but not arranged
as individual devices.

"A bunch of people fled, and we collected about half a dozen who were
interviewed and released," Russell said, noting they were "better
witnesses than suspects."

The residence was found to belong to Matthew Dymond, 35, who is sought
in the investigation.
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