17 indicted in E. Kentucky marijuana roundup

[boulder]

17 indicted in E. Kentucky marijuana roundup

 

 

 

By Alan Maimon

amaimon@courier-journal.com

The Courier-Journal

 

LONDON, Ky. -- A major marijuana roundup in Eastern Kentucky resulted in federal indictments of 17 people accused of cultivating nearly 4,000 plants.

 

U.S. Attorney Greg Van Tatenhove of the Eastern District of Kentucky said the joint federal, state and local investigations announced yesterday show authorities are serious about cracking down on the ''most widely used illicit drug in America.''

 

''We're still in the midst of the battle,'' Van Tatenhove said at a news conference on the indictments.

 

The two-day roundup of suspects that ended yesterday resulted in nine drug busts in seven counties -- Breathitt, Knott, Knox, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Wayne and Whitley. Some of the marijuana was cultivated indoors, Van Tatenhove said.

 

The largest bust netted more than 1,300 plants in Knox County. Van Tatenhove said the plants were grown between April and September.

 

The defendants each face up to 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine if convicted of manufacturing in excess of 100 marijuana plants.

 

The announcement yesterday was made at the London headquarters for the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area office, a federal and state task force that battles illegal drug trafficking in the region.

 

Frank Rapier, deputy director of the task force, said the confiscated plants weighed a total of 176 pounds and had a total value of between $350,000 and $500,000.

 

Van Tatenhove said marijuana use has become an epidemic in Eastern Kentucky, although it receives less attention than prescription-drug abuse and methamphetamine use.

 

At a drug summit in Paintsville in November, Tom Manzi, a Drug Enforcement Administration supervisor who works with Kentucky on drug issues, said abuse of prescription drugs -- including OxyContin, Tylox and Vicadin -- remains the ''most serious drug threat in Eastern Kentucky.''

 

But Van Tatenhove, citing national statistics, said 62 percent of drug addicts are marijuana abusers.

 

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, marijuana is the leading cash crop in Kentucky, West Virginia and Tennessee. The states comprise only 4 percent of the U.S. population but produce 28 percent of the nation's marijuana.

 

The federal agency eradicated 700,000 marijuana plants in Kentucky last year.

 

Rapier said much of the marijuana grown in the region is sent to other parts of the country. ''Not all of it is being used here, but it's still very startling,'' he said.

 

Van Tatenhove said Eastern Kentucky continues to have a ''particularly egregious problem'' with marijuana.

[whynot]

''We're still in the midst of the battle,'' Van Tatenhove said at a news conference on the indictments.

These people obviously don't realise how silly they sound when their alleged "battle" refers to simple weeds.