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.
Medical ... it was for medical use.
The complete name of the company they raided was Bearing-Belt & Chain & Clinic, Inc
You mean the kennedys, right?
Yeah, what a shame.
We'd be much better off if marijuana was legal and $5 per pound. More kids could then afford it.
Parents and employers have been pushing for cheap and easy-to-get marijuana for decades. I'm sure you've read about that.
LOL. Sounds like something out of a bad movie.
My kid in HS says he could get MJ without leaving campus, if he wanted to.
Cigs are harder to come by.
Sooo.... hows that WOD working in your area?
Growing and smuggling the dope That Americans won't do.
If, as you say, the WOD has "gone absolutely nowhere. Accomplished absolutely nothing", then why "hard drugs aside"? Seriously. Why not legalize all drugs?
The truth of the matter is that drug use would go up with legalization. I think you know this. You're simply willing to tolerate an increase in the use of marijuana but not an increase in the use of hard drugs.
That's fine. Just don't say the WOD "isn't working", that's all.
"then TAX the SMITHEREENS out of the distributors of the product!!! Just like is being done with tobacco"
Good point. And what's happening with cigarettes? They're being driven underground because of the high taxes and the government then collects ... zip.
If legalized, I think taxes on marijuana at all levels of government (federal, state, county, city) will add up to be quite high. Actually, I think the potential tax revenue will be how legalization is "sold" to the public (just as state lotteries were sold and riverboat casinos were sold). Besides, do you think parents want cheap marijuana?
Unlike alcohol and tobacco, however, an underground already exists for marijuana. It will be very easy for the black market to reactivate this underground to sell tax-free marijuana.
Currently, 30% of marijuana users are underage. Legalize it (which will be interpreted by teens as society saying that marijuana is OK) and making it cheap could increase that percentage -- maybe to 50%.
Now, with half the marijuana market being underage and illegal, you don't think the gangs will move in to service it?
$500/pound, 16oz in a pound= $31.25 an ounce
Weed in Philadelphia is $180 an oz for mexican..$350-$500 for top notch stuff.
Thats a hell of a mark up.....Legalize it...Tax the ship outta it....would still be cheaper than street price....and we'd save billions in WOD resources. That would free up all those agents for WOT duty....sounds like a plan to me....
Most of those in prison are there for dealing or trafficking drugs, not using.
"I'm talking common sense here."
If you're talking about using common sense when it comes to the personal use of marijuana, then decriminalization, not legalization, is the better approach. Marijuana is still illegal but personal use is treated like a speeding ticket. A small fine and that's it.
Only one problem. Many of those who argue for decriminalization are doing so, not as a common sense approach, but as a step towards legalization. When I first came to FR I favored decriminalization because it made sense and the punishment fit the crime.
No more.
Like the dealer's reaction is understandable if it was over something else?
Like maybe he borrowed the dealer's lawn mower and didn't return it?
Legalize all drugs in the U.S. and the criminal class will come here in droves to get into the export business, illegally smuggling our cheap and legal drugs to countries where their use remains illegal.
That should make us real popular worldwide, especially with countries (and religions) which hate drugs.
Arrest them and throw them in prison?
I believe it. In every survey I've seen teens say that marijuana is easier to obtain than alcohol.
Yet teens use hard to get, regulated alcohol 2:1 over maruijuana. Why is that, you think? You think it might be due to the fact that alcohol is legal (for adults), giving teens the impression that society says it's not that bad?
I mean, really. How bad can alcohol be? It's legal!
"Sooo.... hows that WOD working in your area?"
Teen use of marijuana is down, thank you. Actually, for the last ten years, teen use of marijuana has been declining nationwide.
Maybe we should legalize it, regulate it, tax it, and make it hard to obtain in order to get those numbers up, closer to alcohol, huh?
Teen use of MJ is in decline? Really?
"Authorities estimated the wholesale value of the marijuana at $500 per pound"
Must have been some ditch weed.
Yes, we're winning the war on drugs,
We're winning the war on drugs,
Praise the Lord and pass the bong,
We're winning the war on drugs.
Everybody sing along..
By legalizing marijuana only? Wouldn't we have to legalize ALL drugs to free up the agents?
"would still be cheaper than street price"
OK. Other than marijuana users, whoever wants cheap marijuana raise your hands!
I don't see any hands, do you?
About 6% of the population smokes marijuana. 30% of those are underage and don't vote. That means about 4% of the voters want to have cheap marijuana. Meaning, if my math is correct, that 96% don't want cheap marijuana. That 96% includes a whole bunch of concerned parents.
I don't think you can guarantee cheap prices, amigo.
No, it's expensive and easy for "kids" to obtain. Yet teens use alcohol 2:1 over marijuana. Gee, maybe it's the price after all, huh?
Yeah, let's reduce that marijuana price. We gotta get them numbers up, closer to alcohol!
My point is that pot dealers can be rough; such behavior isn't reserved for pimps, meth dealers and cocaine distributors.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.