Fri Sep 26 2008 10:02 PM




Mexican Nationals arrested in 'pot' growing operation likened by lawmen as organized crime



John Lowe/Daily Jeffersonian
9 hours ago
ZANESVILLE -- The discovery this week of a marijuana growing encampment signals more than a disturbing trend, a law enforcement official said Thursday.

It may mean a form of organized crime has arrived in southeastern Ohio.

On Sunday, Perry County sheriff's deputies, responding to a separate call in a remote, isolated area of Perry County near the Muskingum County line, arrested seven men thought to be Mexican Nationals.

The next day an agent of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification flying in a helicopter detected five apparent plots of marijuana growing in a heavily wooded area of Muskingum County and close to the area where the Mexicans were arrested.

Once investigators from BCI and the Muskingum County and Perry County sheriff's offices arrived on the ground at the sites, they discovered 5,074 marijuana plants. Their estimated street value was more than $5 million.

They also found several tents, food items, clothing, water sources and personal items suggesting the individuals cultivating the plants were living at each plot.

"The set ups at these sites had many similarities to the large plot of marijuana plants discovered in Perry County on Aug. 1," Perry County Sheriff William R. Barker said.

"It's probably more than coincidence, but the investigation is ongoing," Scott Duff said. Duff is the BCI special agent supervisor in the clandestine drug lab/cannabis suppression unit.

Both Barker and Muskingum County Sheriff Ron Stephenson agreed that the operation was well planned.

The intricacy and scope of the operation likely extended far beyond the abilities of the seven suspects arrested Sunday and of an eighth suspect picked up on Tuesday, Duff suggested.

(Authorities did not identify the eighth suspect who was placed on an immigration hold by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.)

"They're worker bees," Duff said of the suspects. "They're trying to eke out a living."

Does that mean the marijuana cultivation was an operation of organized crime?

"That depends on how you define organized crime," Duff said.

"Maybe this wasn't traditional, organized crime, but it was organized."

Unbeknownst to company officials, the marijuana cultivation was taking place in a remote section of Newton Township on property belonging to AEP Ohio. It was an area bounded in part by Route 345 and Perry County Road 71-A.

Because of the dense underbrush, the few residents in the vicinity likely had no clue that Mexicans were living in the woods nearby.

Had an unsuspecting citizen stumbled upon the operation, he or she may have found him- or herself in a dangerous situation, Sheriff Stephenson said.

As investigators entered the sites, they took precautions to protect themselves from possible booby traps, Sheriff Barker said.

They found no traps nor alarms. Nor did they find any weapons.

"That doesn't mean anything," said Duff, adding that an unaware person inadvertently stumbling upon the operation would have faced a dangerous situation.

Anyone with information about the suspects is asked to call the Drug Task Force of the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office, (740) 455-7917, or the Perry County Sheriff's Office, (740) 455-7917, extension 40.

(jlowe@daily-jeff.com)
http://www.daily-jeff.com/news/simple_article/4433884