ISP makes state's biggest marijuana bust

wndu.com ^ | 8 17 05 | Kari Huston

[bigfootbob]

Photo-op

[lastchance]

They will be burning it one joint at a time. That way there will be less of an evironmental impact, plus you support the snack food industry.

[Rob_DSM]

"First Sgt. Mike Crabtree of the Indiana State Police marijuana team says, “We had strong evidence. We already have the evidence that these suspects were armed, in the marijuana plot with 5,000 plants and potentially $10 million worth of marijuana. There was a potential for violence.”

They were armed? There was a potential for violence? Really? I am so surprised to hear this, you know, with the reputation of cops being so peaceful when they do a weed raid. I'd say the cops are always looking for a fight with this WOD.

"Marijuana plant removal Heavy equipment had to be brought in to remove the marijuana clusters. After officers cut down the plants, they were carried away by US Coast Guard helicopter and then trucked away by the Indiana State Highway department."

That is so ridiculous, I can't even come up with the words to describe it. What an absolute WASTE of resources! Couldn't all these officers, and especially the freakin' Coast Guard, do something more productive? Maybe shift some of that from the WOD to the WOT. There's probably a boat with a nuke on board that was making it ashore, as these morons were air lifting out all the weeds.

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

Thank you. You wrote my post for me.Time to divert the WOD money to WOT.

[John O]

The marijuana plants are easily distinguishable by air because of their distinctive, brighter green color

They also have a significantly different thermal signature (pot is very hot as it grows) so they stand out quite nicely when viewed through thermal imagers. You also can't hide the signature without obviously hiding the signature. That is, any effort to hide the pot signature looks like someone is trying to hide something which could be enough cause for suspicion for a warrant anyway.

Obviously these were drug pushers and not just recreational users growing their own. Bust them and throw away the key. (or perhaps burn them along with their crop. I'm easy)

[John O]

Couldn't all these officers, and especially the freakin' Coast Guard, do something more productive? Maybe shift some of that from the WOD to the WOT.

In many cases (like this one probably) the war on drugs is the war on terror. Where do the profits from organized drugs go to? What methods do the pushers use to protect their markets? How much intimidation and murder (terrorism) does the drug trade produce.

[Rob_DSM]

"In many cases (like this one probably) the war on drugs is the war on terror. Where do the profits from organized drugs go to? What methods do the pushers use to protect their markets? How much intimidation and murder (terrorism) does the drug trade produce."

I'm not in the drug business, so I can't give you a definite answer to where the profits are going, but I'm pretty sure they aren't funding Al Qaeda or any other terrorist group. I'm not sure where you came up with that.

Do you drive an SUV or any passenger car that is contributing to terrorism? Where do the profits from Middle-Eastern oil go?

I'm only trying to point out that your conclusion is way over the top. In any case, this wouldn't even be an issue if the government would get its sticky fingers out of our business. I bet if they made hamburgers illegal, there would be a massive underground market, and you know what? I'd be in line to get my burger fix regardless of what the government says. LOL.

[Rob_DSM]

"Obviously these were drug pushers and not just recreational users growing their own. Bust them and throw away the key. (or perhaps burn them along with their crop. I'm easy)"

I guess the big distributors of alcohol like Budwesier and Miller are big drug pushers, too. Should their factories be burned to the ground with all their employees, too? They're the biggest, most destructive, drug pushers around you know.

[jaydubya2]

Talk about a waste of money and manpower! The ISP frequently flies around in helicopters this time of year looking for plants. They find several small plots, but rarely ever catch anyone.

[avg_freeper]

"Several other suspects were able to hide in the marijuana clusters, eluding the authorities."

If you're capable of hiding in your marijuana, you've got too much marijuana.

[monday]

"Why are they spending probably hundreds of thousands of dollars FLYING this stuff out, to just pile it up and burn it somewhere else?"

Because they are not spending their own money. They are spending taxpayer money so they don't care.

[monday]

"Talk about a waste of money and manpower! The ISP frequently flies around in helicopters this time of year looking for plants. They find several small plots, but rarely ever catch anyone."

Flying helicopters around all day would be a fun job. Wish I had a taxpayer funded job where I wasn't actually expected to produce results but was fun like that.

[TKDietz]

You think they had to "push" marijuana on people? What do they hold people down and stuff joints in their mouths, make them inhale and then take their money? Pushers... There's so much demand for marijuana that there is absolutely no need for anyone to "push" the stuff on anyone else. And were these guys supporting terrorism? I bet they were just lining their own pockets because they like money. Were they murdering and intimidating people? You don't know that they were. I work the criminal justice system handling an awful lot of big drug cases and I never hear about murder and intimidation to protect marijuana markets. There's plenty of business for all and all "marijuana markets" appear to be supplied by numerous different suppliers. That's why the stuff keeps getting cheaper. The competition keeps the prices down, but the demand is high enough that these guys can still make a fortune selling large volume at low prices.