Posted on 02/09/2007 7:14:44 PM PST by SandRat
Investigators from the Counter Narcotics Alliance seized as much as 7,000 pounds of marijuana south of Downtown Thursday morning and arrested four people on drug charges, officials said.
Authorities estimated the wholesale value of the marijuana at $500 per pound, which means the bust could have a value of $3.5 million.
Members of the multi- agency Counter Narcotics Alliance raided Bearing-Belt & Chain Inc., 430 W. 22nd St., at about 8:30 a.m. and seized an estimated 5,000 pounds of marijuana, said Lt. Kelly J. Lane of the Tucson Police Department.
Earlier that day, around 6 a.m., police officers pulled over a black pickup truck with Sonoran license plates because the white trailer it was pulling had no lights, Lane said. The truck's driver and passenger appeared nervous, Lane said.
Officers said they found a firearm with its safety off and a magazine loaded with 40 rounds, along with marijuana debris on the floor of the truck.
When the officers searched the trailer, they found between 1,000 and 2,000 pounds of marijuana, Lane said. Further investigation and evidence at the scene led the police to the business on West 22nd Street.
The driver of the truck, 27-year-old Ronaldo Carrizoza Martinez of Sonora, Mexico, and the passenger, Tucsonan Luis Carlos Nido Chavez, 38, were arrested on suspicion of possession of marijuana for sale; transportation of marijuana for sale; and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug violation.
A front-counter salesman of Bearing-Belt & Chain Inc., 37-year-old Leland Crockwell, was arrested on suspicion of possession of marijuana and possession of marijuana for sale.
Saul Carrizoza Martinez, 31, of Cumpas, Sonora, was arrested on suspicion of drug possession as he left the business in a car, Lane said.
The business appeared to be a marijuana-distribution point, and the drugs probably wouldn't have stayed there long before being moved again, Lane said.
* Contact reporter Dale Quinn at 629-9412 or dquinn@azstarnet.com.
Yes it is. Its one way to get vermin out of society.
THEY ALL ARE HERE ONLY FOR A JOB. This is the statement from this weak president.
Whaaa?
The trailer lights, right?
No problemo. Here, smoke this.
That's pretty big, man. Where'd you get it?
I rolled it from some loose weed right next to the gun
What gun, man?
(Lights flashing.....)
ROFLMAO!! Yep, all those crazy pot smokers murdering and robbing and even killing and stealing too!!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Great! Soon we will have a Trans-national super hiway so that these items will no longer need to be stored near the border towns but may speed on to cities in U.S. and Canada, to help our very good friends south of the border, who are just trying to feed their families.
Just damn. That delivery was scheduled to be at my house by noon Wednesday.
"police officers pulled over a black pickup truck with Sonoran license plates because the white trailer it was pulling had no lights"
Proof positive drugs make you stupid and ruin your brain.
As far as our 40 year war on drugs, it has made the criminal class richer and more violent. It has cost we taxpayers billions in government spending to very little good effect.
I used to be all for the WOD, but I've come around to thinking we should go back to having no laws against drug use, possession and sales. Just tax it like we do cookies, laundry soap and gasoline. Sure, some weaklings among us will get strung out, become useless and later need medical treatment, but the cost will likely be much less than the present WOD. Meanwhile, the criminal class will have to go back to robbery, white collar crime and union organizing. Mexico can go back to growing corn and Afghanistan can grow cotton.
Yes it is. Its one way to get vermin out of society.
It has afforded vermin the opportunity to become rich and powerful. Any thoughts on how to keep that money out of criminals' and terrorists' hands?
*sigh*
How many cigarettes would this make? I don't think a stash that big was meant for direct-to-consumer sales.
$500 per pound?
When I was young (a long time ago) it was only $40 lb.
"The driver of the truck, 27-year-old Ronaldo Carrizoza Martinez of Sonora, Mexico, and the passenger, Tucsonan Luis Carlos Nido Chavez, 38, were arrested on suspicion of possession of marijuana for sale; transportation of marijuana for sale; and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug violation. "
Deport them BOTH, no matter where each was born, or what their citizenship may be.
Deport the other two as well.
I'm sick of these vermin.
There's no "putting hard drugs aside."
I agree wholeheartedly. This is clearly an issue where the lack of facts or real life experience, and emotion rule the day.
Except that the people who are caught in the middle (i.e. robbed and murdered) aren't necesarily vermin.
I was not referring to marijuana specifically, but drugs in general. My first sentence about the dealers killing is true, even for marijuana.
I agree. Not sure what your point is though?
There was a case in phoenix where a dealer thought a teenager ripped him off. He went to the kids home, killed the father, tortured the little boy in front of the mother, then killed her and the boy, then raped and murdered the sister when she came home.
All over a pot deal.
In all fairness, someone that damn crazy would probably do something similar with or without the marijuana deal...just damn.
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