DTF snags drugs, makes Arcata arrests – March 10, 2010
Kevin L. Hoover
Eye Editor
ARCATA – Humboldt County Drug Task Force (DTF) agents were busy in Arcata last Thursday, March 4. Their harvest included the usual wacky terbacky, hash, some XTC, plus a smattering of liberty caps and smack.
For those not up on the latest hepster lingo, that’s marijuana, concentrated marijuana, 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, psilocybin and heroin – lots of it.
The day started off with a raid on a residence which Interim Police Chief Tom Chapman would only say was “in the southern part of town,” as the investigation is continuing.
After developing information on heroin sales over the past few months, a search warrant was served. DTF allegedy discovered an ounce of heroin, five ecstacy tablets, 34 cannabis plants and two ounces of processed cannabis.
One individual, whom Chapman declined to identify, was arrested on multiple drug possession charges.
The day’s next house-search began with the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement (BNE). That agency intercepted a package containing what Chapman called “a large sum of currency.” It was addressed to Brandon Hook, 26, of Tennessee at an Arcata address.
BNE asked DTF to visit the addressee at 689 Beverly Drive in Sunny Brae, a home owned by Peter H. Harrison of Big Bar. There, agents located Hook and reportedly smelled growing marijuana and heard fans running.
Hook declined to allow the agents inside, so he and another individual were detained in the house’s driveway while the house was secured and a search warrant obtained.
On searching the house, agents discovered 18 marijuana plants growing under two lights, their size and wattage in excess of Arcata’s Land Use Code guidelines. In addition, two pounds of processed marijuana were seized, along with an eighth-ounce of psilocybin mushrooms and 15 grams of hash.
No 215 recommendations were at the scene. Hook was arrested on suspicion of marijuana cultivation and sales.
“It was clear that he was selling,” Chapman said. “It should be very prosecutable.”
