Image: concretejunkyard.blogspot.com

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Two hunters found 126 pounds of bundled pot lying in the desert near Sasabe, about a month after Border Patrol agents discovered 220 pounds of pot south of Dateland.

Arizona's desert has apparently become a treasure-hunters paradise -- if your idea of treasure is tens of thousands of dollars worth of marijuana. Authorities figure the find was worth more than $100,000, (which is about $50 an ounce), according to the Arizona Republic write-up of the incident.

The Scottsdale hunters turned in the booty to National Guard troops who help patrol Arizona's border with Mexico.

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Wikipedia

Joaquin Guzman-Loera is the head of the Sinaloa Cartel. He's also one of the richest men in the world.

​The Sinaloa drug cartel recently suffered what local law enforcement agencies are considering a "significant blow" -- a 15-month investigation has led to the arrest of more than 200 people, the seizure of hundreds of pounds of various drugs, and close to $8 million in cash.

Just how "significant" a blow the bust really is is debatable (more on that below).

The Tempe Police Department, in collaboration with the Phoenix DEA Strike Force Group, "were able to dismantle and take down an extensive trafficking cell" they say is connected to the Mexico-based cartel.

"These drug traffickers are conducting a dirty business," Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne says. "Their customers are both adults and children, their products are poison, and their profits enrich Mexican drug lords enabling them to continue this cycle of criminality, abuse and death."

According to Tempe police, the investigation, known as "Operation Crank Call," started after a Tempe police officer busted up a drug deal while on routine patrol. One of the two men busted was found to be delivery boy for the cartel, dropping off drugs to buyers in Tempe, Phoenix, and other Valley cities.

The investigation led to the following:

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www.imdb.com

"No sir it wasn't me, sir -- I swear it wasn't"

​"No sir it wasn't me, sir -- I swear it wasn't!"

That's what Jermaine "Huggy" Hopkins, the fat kid in the film Lean on Me, famously told his prickly principal (played by Morgan Freeman) to get out of a jam in the 1989 classic.

The line apparently didn't work as well on the cops, who say Hopkins tried to buy about 200 pounds of weed from an undercover Maricopa County Sheriff's deputy.

Hopkins, who lives in North Carolina, got popped in Avondale on Tuesday when police found 200 pounds of weed -- and $100,000 in cash -- in the vehicle he was driving.

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Image: AZ DPS

Christian Palacios, a Valley resident and American citizen, and two Mexican nationals, Julio Cesar Alavarado Yanez and Osvaldo Moreno Herrera, are being sought by DPS in connection with a pot-smuggling ring investigation.

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Three men being sought by the Arizona Department of Public Safety are suspected of helping to smuggle tons of pot for various Mexican cartels.

Christian Palacios, a Valley resident and the only U.S. citizen in the trio, and two Mexican nationals, Julio Cesar Alavarado Yanez and Osvaldo Moreno Herrera, were higher-ups in a well-armed group led by Ines Moreno, who was busted in October. That bust led to the indictments last week of Moreno and five other people who now stand accused of bringing hundreds of pounds of pot into Arizona weekly.

The typical m.o., says DPS, was to use guards armed with AK-47s to accompany the smugglers making their way from Mexico through the desert of southern Arizona.

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Image: Huffington Post

Joe Miller

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Maybe one reason marijuana prohibition is still in effect is this:

Law officers face being fired merely for stating publicly their views on legalization.

That was the case for Joe Miller, a former Mohave County probation officer whose supervisors terminated him after his name appeared on a letter -- with 31 other law officers -- in support of the 2010 California ballot proposal that would have made pot as legal as booze and cigarettes.

Now Miller is suing for damages in a federal complaint with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona. They claim the county's action violated Miller's First Amendment right to free speech, caused emotional distress and damaged his reputation.
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Retired Los Angeles Sheriff's Office Deputy Richard Valdemar, who now lives in Arizona, says that legalizing marijuana won't hurt drug cartels.

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Richard Valdemar believes the central character of his medical-marijuana story would be executed by a Mexican drug cartel if he was named, so he refers to him as "Winnie."

As Valdemar relates in newly released cable-and-Internet-show video and recent article in a police magazine, Winnie is the son of two Northern California "hippies" who made a living in the last few decades by growing high-quality weed. Winnie's an expert grower himself, and he succumbed to temptation a while back to make "real money" by hooking up with a cartel associate he knew through a childhood friend.

The relationship wasn't a good idea, as you can imagine. Winnie was framed by the friend for stealing 20 plants and, fearing for his life, he decided to flee the family farm, says Valdemar, a retired Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy who learned of Winnie's tale through his old police contacts. But Winnie decided to actually steal 20 plants before he left -- and then he got pulled over and busted by police.

Now, Winnie's "on the run," Valdemar tells New Times, terrified that if he goes to prison, or even if he doesn't, he'll be assassinated by the cartel.

It's a fascinating story and all true, according to Valdemar.

But is this an example of why marijuana should never be legalized, as Valdemar says its is, or just the opposite? 

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ICE

​Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies claim to have delivered a "death blow" to a Mexican drug trafficking ring that was running $33 million worth of drugs through Arizona every month.

Authorities announced this morning the results of "Operation Pipeline Express," a 17-month investigation into a drug trafficking ring that has ties to Mexico's Sinaloan cartel.

The operation was a collaborative effort by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations squad, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, and the Arizona Attorney General's Office.

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Jason Lowery

​Jason Alistair Lowery, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation officer who was busted in a marijuana smuggling sting last week -- and then led authorities on a high-speed chase through the desert while throwing bundles of weed out of his ICE-owned vehicle -- is to be held without bail, a federal magistrate ruled today.

Federal magistrate Edward Voss made the ruling this morning, after determining that Lowery is a flight risk and a danger to the community.

Arizona Department of Public Safety Officer Carrick Cook explained the sting to New Times last week. He says DPS had been monitoring Lowery for several weeks after a known smuggler tipped off authorities that he was working with a law enforcement official.

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ICE Deportation Officer Jason Lowery got popped yesterday during a drug smuggling sting.

​Jason Alistair Lowery, 34, is a deportation officer with U.S. Immigration and customs enforcement. He's also allegedly a weed smuggler who led authorities on a 45-minute chase -- in his government-owned vehicle -- after getting busted in a marijuana smuggling sting.

Arizona Department of Public Safety Officer Carrick Cook tells New Times that DPS has been monitoring Lowery for several weeks after a known smuggler tipped off authorities that he was working with a law enforcement official.

"Initially, we kind of dismissed [the smuggler's claims]," Cook says. "Independent sources found out later that the information was credible."

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​A man wearing a gas mask was involved in a shooting in Mesa early this morning during what appears to be a botched weed robbery.

According to Mesa police, about 1 a.m. today, a Mesa cop made a traffic stop in the 600 block of South Mesa Drive. The driver, whose name is being withheld, forgot to turn his lights on -- which seems like an easy thing to forget if you've just been shot, which he had.
 
The driver immediately stopped the car, jumped out of the driver's seat, and showed the officer a bullet hole in his wrist.

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