News

A man who was arrested last week after a high speed chase on Interstate 10 was accused of having more than $84,000 worth of marijuana in his vehicle, authorities said. Joel O. Morando, 25, was arrested Nov. 11 after he led Arizona Department of Public Safety officers on a 30-mile chase down Interstate 10 before rear ending a pickup truck and crashing near the Avra Valley exit. The driver of the pickup truck, Ronald Papanikolas aged 31 from Magna, Utah, was thrown from the cab of the truck and died at the scene.

The incident reportedly started after a K9 officer pulled Morando over on westbound Interstate 10 near Picacho Peak for following too closely. The officer walked the exterior of the vehicle with the dog before the dog alerted to the vehicle’s trunk. Morando reportedly ran to his vehicle and fled while the officer was waiting for backup units to arrive. The suspect sped down interstate 10 towards Tucson with the officer in pursuit before hitting the pickup truck. There was approximately 153 pounds of marijuana in Morando’s vehicle. Morando is facing charges of first degree murder, felony endangerment, criminal damage, possession of marijuana for sale, transportation of marijuana for sale and possession of marijuana.

Two florida men have recently been arrested on federal charges for one of the largest marijuana busts in state history. It is reported that the two men Stanley Narcisse Aged 36 from Winter Garden and Eric Emmanuel aged 35 from Pemmbroke Pines were in possession of roughly 6,500 pounds of Cannabis. This amount holds a street value of roughly 6.5 Million dollars. The two men were arrested after they failed to pull into a weighing station on East Hanover Township on January the 31^st.

After having been pulled over and arrested on felony drug possession and intent to distribute it was later realized that the two men had been driving a stolen truck from the Atlanta area. The trucks goods were loaded onto the trailer in Tuscon, Arizona and were being transported to Connecticut. At the time of the stop Narcisse was on bail for similar charges in Arizona after a tractor trailer he was operating in May 2009 was found to contain about 1,000 pounds of Marijuana. Both men are serving life imprisonment and a sentence date has not yet been scheduled.

 State police say a western Pennsylvania woman tried to hide marijuana in a child's dirty diaper. 

Trooper Stefani Plume had just asked permission to search the car of 23-year-old India Banks, of Clairton, when Banks allegedly handed the diaper to the trooper and asked her to toss it into a bag of garbage inside the vehicle. 

Plume says she thought it was odd of Banks to hand over the wet diaper instead of throwing it in the bag herself. So the trooper checked inside and found a small bag of marijuana. 

Plume described the Oct. 25 traffic stop when Banks appeared in court Wednesday to waive her right to a preliminary hearing. Banks will enter a special probation program for first time offenders that will enable her record to be expunged if she complies with her probation terms. 

(Source: cbsnews.com)

 Authorities say about $15,000 worth of pot was stolen from a medical marijuana grower's building in Four Corners west of Bozeman.

Gallatin County Sheriff Jim Cashell tells the Bozeman Daily Chronicle the building was damaged Sunday night. He says it is the second time in two weeks the business has been burglarized.

Additional details about the two burglaries have not been released.

Jake Wagner, commander of the Missouri River Drug Task Force, says based on the $15,000 price tag of the medical marijuana, the burglars must have stolen about 5 pounds

(Source: necn.com)

Sounds like this heist was dreamed up with a little help from Mary Jane.

Three active duty soldiers at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs are being held on $10,000 bond after they allegedly tried to rob a marijuana dispensary but got locked inside, and it was all caught on tape.

Police say Ramone Hollins, Cory Young and Darius Thomas broke into Rocky Road Remedies just after 2 a.m. on Saturday. They reportedly broke the lock on the back door but what they didn't know was that the door locks automatically from the inside.

But that wasn't the end of their troubles. At the same time, police officers were next door responding to an unrelated call when they noticed the burglars inside, according to CBS affiliate KCNC.

Authorities say that the surveillance video shows Hollins, Young and Thomas, dressed in black, trying to break the front door of the dispensary once they realize the back door has locked them in. But the door and the windows are reinforced with metal bars, so they try to go back the way they came only to find that door locked, too.

At one point one of the alleged burglars decides to dive through a small interior sliding glass window instead of walking through the open door right next to it.

(Source: cbsnews.com)

This so called synthetic marijuana, known as Spice and K2, is legal in Virginia. It can be purchased online, in convenience stores and at tobacco shops. But it may not be legal for long. Some state lawmakers have proposed banning the synthetic-marijuana substances in Virginia, as they have been outlawed in 13 other states. The US Military and other forces has also banned the use of such substances and has also blocked off access to bases to specific companies which sell the substances.

Fort Lee has not yet taken that step. Soldiers stationed at the installation in Prince George County are not banned from area establishments that sell Spice, though they are still prohibited from using it. Spice is a synthetic blend of chemically treated, smokable leaves. With the addition of chemicals similar to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, the herbs can provide a legal high.

But that was not the intent when synthetic compounds such as K2 and Spice were developed in John W. Huffman's laboratory more than 10 years ago. K2 and other such substances have been found in some synthetic marijuana. His research is geared at understanding the interactions between cannabinoid receptors in the brain and other organs. The receptors play a role in regulating appetite, nausea, mood, pain and inflammation. They may also be involved in the development of such conditions as osteoporosis, liver disease and some kinds of cancer.

Huffman said synthetic cannabinoids can help researchers understand these interactions and may contribute to the development of new therapies. They have been discussed in scientific publications.