2800 Lbs of Pot seized over 4 days.

[Pedro56]

2,800 pounds of pot seized in 4 days
Raids weren't related except for the timing

January 8, 2007
BY MAUREEN O'DONNELL Staff Reporter
You didn't have to be a pothead to know what was inside the Chicago Police Narcotics Uniton Sunday evening.

Even though it was wrapped in plastic or sandwiched between layers of axle grease to disguise its aroma, the smell -- half wet hay, half fresh-mown grass -- filled a room the size of a small warehouse.

Police showed off dozens of cinder block-like bales of marijuana from four separate raids in the new year that add up to more than 2,800 pounds of confiscated pot.

All that green is worth a lot of green, said Deputy Chief Steve Caluris. He estimated its street value at $7.5 million.

"This is probably one of the biggest [combined] seizures we've had in the last three years," said Lt. Bob Cervenka.

Hidden in a TV box
Six people were arrested in the raids, which took place on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Caluris said. The busts are not linked in any way except for timing, he said.

All of the raids were at residences. Three were in the Chicago Lawn District, one in the Austin District. Guns and cash were also confiscated, Caluris said.

According to Caluris, the marijuana was found:

• On Thursday in the 3400 block of West 72nd Place. A tip led to the seizure of 465 pounds of marijuana with a street value of $1.3 million, plus $53,000 in cash and guns.

• On Friday in the 4400 block of South Homan. About 1,100 pounds of marijuana was recovered with a street value of $2.9 million, along with $1,000 in currency.

"The house was vacant; there was no heat on. They didn't have chairs," said Officer Raphael Mitchem.

"The only thing in it was the marijuana," added Cervenka. Some of the pot was being spirited out of the house in a cardboard box that had contained a TV, he said. "When we saw two guys carrying the Magnavox box out, you could smell it right away."

• On Saturday in the 6100 block of South Kildare. Police found 42 pounds of marijuana valued at $115,000, $700 in cash and a 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun "within arm's reach of tender-aged children," Caluris said.

• On Sunday in the Austin District. Caluris declined to give the location but said the bust netted 1,200 pounds of marijuana with a street value of $3.3 million and a gun.

"Gangs, guns and drugs go hand in hand," Caluris said.

Caluris praised the officers involved in the raids: Cervenka, Sgt. Matthew Cline (son of Supt. Phil Cline), Lt. Joseph Gorman, Sgt. George Karuntzos, Lt. Peter Piazza and Sgt. Armando Ramirez.

modonnell@suntimes.com

[10-42Adam]

Great work.