ADDICTION RECOVERY QUOTES

Officers with the Washington County Area Drug Task Force, Drug Enforcement Administration, Washington County Sheriff, and several other local law enforcement agencies* are looking for approximately three men who ran during a large drug raid today.

Sheriff Cory Pulsipher said officers arrested several people last night and another 20 or so today after taking down a large marijuana grow in the Veyo area.

Sgt. Johnny Heppler later said that thirty-seven individuals are in custody related to this particular grow site. They were apprehended without incident, arrested, and booked into the Washington County Jail.

Pulsipher said the people in Veyo may be scared as the SWAT team was on scene and a helicopter landed on the grass of a local church.

Pulsipher said residents need to be careful and not pick up hitchhikers. Members of the community are urged to report any suspicious activity to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office (contact information provided below).

He said no weapons have been found at the grow so far.

Heppler said that the investigation into this matter culminated today, July 16, with the execution of an operation in Cove Wash located northwest of Veyo, near General Steam Road where marijuana was being cultivated by a Mexican drug trafficking organization.

Evidence was obtained indicating this marijuana grow is related to at least three marijuana grow operations taken down in 2010, according to Heppler.

Numerous subjects were encountered and apprehended inside the grow. The subjects were identified as Mexican nationals and are suspected to be affiliated with a transnational drug trafficking organization with operations based out of southern California and Nevada.

The Utah Department of Public Safety’s helicopter was a crucial tool in the safe apprehension of the individuals in the grow and in assisting in slinging the marijuana out of the site for disposal.

The definitive number of marijuana plants is unavailable at this time as this operation is ongoing.

 

*Approximately 70 law enforcement officials participated in the operation from multiple agencies and jurisdictions including: Washington County Area Task Force, Drug Enforcement Administration, Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George Police Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, US Forest Service, Utah Department of Public Safety, DEA Metro Task Force, Kane County Sheriff’s Office, Fredonia Marshal’s Office, and Washington County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue.

STUNNED by the assassination of Afghanistan's most powerful men, friends of the President's slain brother are piecing together how a trusted aide became the killer.

Sardar Mohammad, who shot Ahmed Wali Karzai in his own home on Tuesday, was head of security for the southern Afghanistan powerbroker. The pair had been close for decades.

But neighbours and friends said Mohammad had drug problems, was prone to rages and hated the Taliban -- which claimed credit for the killing.

Mohammad gave the US intelligence on the militants, assisting in the capture of scores of Taliban fighters, The Washington Post reported yesterday.

He was the commander of about 200 bodyguards who looked after the upmarket neighbourhood of the younger Karzai's large extended family.

"He was also from the Popalzai tribe and was AWK's most trusted guy," said Agha Lalai Dastagiri, a member of the Kandahar provincial council that was led by Wali Karzai, who was known by his initials.




In exile, he said, Mohammad lived alongside the two Karzai brothers and their father in Pakistan, where the Karzais had formed an anti-Soviet resistance movement and later an anti-Taliban one in the 1990s.

"Sardar was addicted to hashish and developed psychological problems. AWK sent him twice to India for treatment this year," Mr Dastagiri said. "He was a very argumentative person, quick to fight, but Sardar was so close to AWK that he was always allowed to meet him while armed."

The Taliban claimed to have turned Mohammad, but those who knew him said he was a highly unlikely insurgent.

Mohammad's family declined to comment but neighbour Abdul Khaliq Mohmand said: "I don't think that he could be recruited by Taliban, as he was very hostile towards them. But he was smoking and drinking a lot and was always looking for a pretext to fight with somebody."

Mr Dastagiri said he was a guest in Karzai's house when Mohammad turned up. A bodyguard informed Wali Karzai that Mohammad wanted an urgent meeting and he left the room to see him in private.

"Moments later we heard three shots from the room. The first bodyguard that entered the room was also killed by Sardar," said Mr Dastagiri. "I asked the guards to capture Sardar alive but he was shooting, so the other bodyguards killed him. Ahmad Wali Karzai was shot three times, one bullet behind his ear, the second in his chest and a third bullet to his hand."

Recalling old Taliban tactics, the assassin's body was strung up in public, in two different squares for about half an hour on Tuesday.

Authorities announced Thursday they seized 13,500 marijuana plants and 44 kilograms of harvested bud from the properties during an investigation that began in 2009. Police estimated the marijuana had a street value exceeding $17 million.

Investigators would only say publicly that the illegal enterprise was allegedly the work of two unnamed organized crime groups working together.

However, police confirmed information from Herald sources that some of the eight suspects charged in connection with the case are associated with the Hells Angels.

"We are aware there are some ties with members of the Hells Angels," said Staff Sgt. Tom Hanson of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams. The extent of those ties isn't exactly known, Hanson said, but he added investigators believe the bust dealt a crippling blow to the local operation.

Police said losing $17 million has the potential to hurt even a large organization like the Hells Angels, which claims chapters in 35 countries.

Seven of the nine grow operations were found in Calgary. Two were outside the city.

In an indication of the enterprise's scope and reach, Hanson said most of the marijuana was being moved out of Calgary for sale elsewhere.

The seizures took place during an 18-month investigation by ALERT, a provincial umbrella group targeting organized crime with nearly 400 members from municipal police, the RCMP and Alberta Sheriffs.

Eight suspects are facing 80 charges relating to drugs and theft of utilities: Tina Batsch and Michael Cornies, both 40; Thang Cuong, 28; Vinh Dang, 40; Shi Deng, 43; Brian Gainor, 34; Zhong Huang, 43; and Gregory Marosi, 39.

Mexico's Defense Ministry said Thursday in a statement the crop would yield about 120 metric tons and be worth about $160 million, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The plantation, just 200 miles south of California's San Diego, stretched some 296 acres. It is located in the town of and is surrounded by a hedge of cacti. Soldiers were patrolling the area when they found the plantation, BBC reports. They found plants as high as 2.5 meters, the Associated Press reports.

No arrests were made at the scene.

The Mexican army called it the biggest marijuana field every found in the country. However, experts said the bust at a ranch called "El Bufalo" in northern Chihuahua state in 1984 was bigger.

"There's no comparison between the two busts—El Bufalo was far bigger," Alberto Islas, a security expert based in Mexico, told the Wall Street Journal. The El Bufalo ranch reportedly stretched for 1,344 acres.

The AP reports that the plantation had a sophisticated system of piped-in irrigation to support the plants.

Mexico is the world's biggest producer of marijuana. Experts predict that drug gangs in Mexico earn several billion dollars a year from marijuana sales.

Ronnie Dennis Whitaker, 21, is accused of possessing hashish — a sticky, thick and dark-colored resin made from marijuana — and 2 ounces or less of marijuana.

He is scheduled for trial in October.

Possession of hashish is a Class 4 felony punishable by a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

Possession of 2 ounces or less of marijuana is a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of one year in jail and a $2,000 fine.