Dope floats: Multi-million-dollar pot haul found adrift off LA

Published time: May 21, 2012 13:23
Edited time: May 21, 2012 17:23
Marijuana (AFP Photo/Luis Robayo)

California Harbor Patrol officers have fished out almost 8,000 pounds (3.6 tonnes) of marijuana that was spotted floating off the coast of Orange County. Local border patrol agents estimate the pot haul has a $3.6 million street value.

­About 160 bales of the drug were retrieved off the coast of Dana Point, South of Los Angeles.

The gigantic haul was first reported by a boater who spied the bales bobbing about 15 miles (24 km) from the shore.

Border patrol agent supervisor Michael Jimenez described the event as out of the ordinary given that “the bales were floating with no boat in sight." He added that in similar cases of maritime smuggling, vessels usually jettison their cargo to get rid of weight when they are being chased.

So far no suspects have been identified in connection with the ongoing investigation.

On Wednesday in the north of the state, 19 people were arrested in a drugs bust. The owners of two indoor garden shops were found to be at the center of a large marijuana trafficking operation.

Federal agents and local police seized 3,600 marijuana plants, almost 100 pounds of processed marijuana, dozens of guns and a grenade launcher as part of Operation Disco Dazed.

California has a comparatively liberal stance towards marijuana, allowing medical patients who have received approval from a physician to cultivate and consume marijuana.

However, the possession and the distribution of the drug are considered felonies under current legislation.

Comments (6)

David762 (unregistered) 22.05.2012 19:42

Both Prohibition 1.0 (Alcohol) and Prohibition 2.0 (Cannabis) are symptoms of the corruption of government(s) in their pursuit of tools to impoverish & persecute their own citizens, to the betterment of crony corporate special interests and the rise of the tyranny of the police state.  This "War Against People", which makes illegal a plant that has never killed a single person, creates a seemingly perpetual conflict between the powers of the state and those that would traffic in or use these proscribed products. Reality is somewhat different.  Prohibition(s) create an artificial distortion of the market valuation of proscribed products, while the corruption it engenders becomes rampant through every segment of society, including the government itself at every level.  The economic and political system(s) enhanced by prohibition(s) are called corporate socialism, aka fascism.  Millions of citizens have been thrown into prison, and many thousands more executed, across the globe due to these contrived legal boundaries on personal rights & liberties.  50,000 people, mostly innocent civilians, have been slaughtered in Mexico in recent years as government(s) seek to control (not eliminate) the illicit drug trade.When was the last time that the importation of Corona beer or a bottle of tequila from Mexico has spawned gun battles between importers or between importers and government forces?  --------  Prohibition 1.0.  The corruption throughout society became almost universal after only 10 years of Prohibition 1.0.  What is the level of corruption possible after 70 years of Prohibition 2.0?  I submit that it is rampant and universal, a mortal threat to populist representative democracy.  Re-legalize, regulate, and control currently illicit plants, and end the corruption & hypocrisy.  End Prohibition 2.0!

+9

Undo

Kristina (unregistered) 22.05.2012 14:47

i hate my life


+3

Undo

PotFace 21.05.2012 22:39

Oh!  The humanity!  What a shame, what a shame. 

+8

Undo

View all comments (6)
Add comment

By posting your comment, you agree to abide by our Posting rules

Log in to comment in full, or comment anonymously under character-limit restriction.

100 Text

– required fields

Register or

Name

Password

Show password

Register

or Register

Request a new password

Send

or Register

To complete a registration check
your Email:

or Register

A password has been sent to your email address

Edit profile

Name

New password

Retype new password

Current password

Save

Cancel

Follow us