Police seized some 5,000 marijuana plants with an estimated street value of $10 million this morning found nestled in the Verdugo Mountains above Glendale. A helicopter scouring the area for signs of fires on Tuesday found spotted an "unusual patch of greenery," said Glendale Police Officer John Balian. Narcotics detectives hiked up the mountain and discovered a sophisticated marijuana farm throughout the area. The operators had designed a watering system using the water from a tower that was designed to be used in case of brush fires, Balian said. Police also seized a sleeping bag, rifle scopes, and rifle bullets from nearby, but no suspects were in custody. [continues 148 words]
BURBANK - The Burbank City Attorney's Office on Thursday dropped a misdemeanor drug possession charge against a Santa Cruz medical marijuana patient who was cited in July at the Bob Hope Airport, the ACLU said Thursday. The charge against Valerie Corral, who was detained when screeners allegedly spotted marijuana in her carry-on bag, was dismissed. She was cited by police even though she had a Santa Cruz County-issued medical marijuana card, authorized under the state's Compassionate Use Act, said her attorney, Christina Alvarez, with the American Civil Liberties Union Drug Law Reform Project. [continues 304 words]
Drug houses have continued to flourish in many parts of Los Angeles despitea 4-year-old city task force that has made hundreds of arrests and forced landlords to evict drug dealers. Since 1997, the task force of the Los Angeles Police Department, city attorneys and building inspectors has forced more than 900 evictions and closed 200 drug houses citywide, 35 percent of which were in the San Fernando Valley. Since 1998, the unit has made more than 900 arrests with more than one-third of those in the Valley. [continues 1258 words]
By Jason Kandel Staff Writer Methamphetamine -- once the drug of choice for outlaw motorcycle gangs who cooked it in large batches in out-of-the-way places -- has moved downtown with "mom-and-pop" drug labs springing up across Los Angeles, police say. Recent meth busts in the Santa Clarita Valley and in Van Nuys last week highlighted the ease with which users can start their own labs and manufacture the drug in small doses. "The chemical formula has become sort of simple even for people not that aware of chemistry," said Robert Schirn, the head of Major Narcotics Division of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. "Some of the materials are not that difficult to get." [continues 682 words]
NORTH HILLS -- Arrests by narcotics officers have skyrocketed this year in an area police call the "biggest open air drug market" in the San Fernando Valley. In an effort to crack down on pushers and drug users in the Sepulveda Corridor in North Hills and Panorama City, police have busted more than 153 people on suspicion of narcotics possession this year, compared with 58 in the same period last year. The Los Angeles Police Department has redirected officers -- scrapping and borrowing from various divisions -- to do undercover work in an area being described as filled with drug activity. [continues 967 words]
