Thread: CA-Police: $1 million in pot seized in raids

Police: $1 million in pot seized in raids

December 16, 2009
By ELYSSE JAMES
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

TUSTIN - An anonymous tip led police to warehouses and homes containing marijuana plants and weapons in Tustin and Santa Ana.

Four people were arrested as a result of the search that uncovered marijuana plants and processed marijuana with a street value of about $1 million, according to police.

Tustin Police display bales of marijuana seized from a Santa Ana warehouse and a Tustin home.

The plants that were seized can produce more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana, police said.

An anonymous tip a few months ago led Tustin Police a house on Linda Lane. The officers' investigation and surveillance of the home linked suspects to a nearby house and warehouse in Santa Ana, said Sgt. Jeff Blair of the Tustin Police Department.

Tustin officers on Tuesday found marijuana, scales, packaging material, handguns, assault rifles and a shotgun at the house at 17501 Linda Lane, near Santa Clara Avenue and Yorba Street.

The search led the Special Investigations Unit to a warehouse at 620 S. Grand Ave. #105 in Santa Ana, where they found a "sophisticated marijuana cultivation," according to police. Officers found more than 600 marijuana plants in varying stages of maturity on multiple levels of the building. Surveillance equipment had been installed to detect people coming near the warehouse.

Officers searched another warehouse in Santa Ana at 1118 E. Walnut St. Unit P and found a second operation with more than 300 marijuana plants on multiple levels.

At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday officers searched a home in Santa Ana, police said. More than 10 pounds of processed marijuana and a ballistic military-style vest were found in an outbuilding at 1115 E. Third St. in Santa Ana.

Newport Beach Police and investigators from the Orange County Auto Theft Task force were involved in the searches.

Joseph Mario Frias, 45, of Tustin; and Santa Ana residents Jose Luis Bravo Cuevas, 55; Mario Donan Orejel, 22; and Mark Anthony Thiry, 21; were arrested and booked at Orange County Jail, police said. Officers are expecting to make more arrests as the investigation continues.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/police-2 ... santa.html

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