This Seattle Times story is interesting.

Should Pierce County try something like it?

Tips led Pierce County sheriff's investigators to a sizable underground marijuana grow operation constructed in buried shipping containers on a property in the South Prairie area last week.

Investigators believe the operation had been in the works for some time and said the man in charge had not had a job in years.

Prosecutors on Friday charged Greg A. Riffero, 52, with unlawful manufacturing of a controlled substance while armed with a firearm and unlawful possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver while armed with a firearm.

Court documents provide the following detail:

Two neighbors and another tipster contacted Pierce County sheriff's investigations about a marijuana grow operation in the 13200 block of 225th Avenue East.

Deputies investigated and used thermal images of the property. They got readings "consistent with a large grow operation," court documents state.

On Thursday morning, investigators served a search warrant on Riffero's property and discovered the underground operations.

Deputies say Riffero had buried "Sealand" shipping containers and used them for the growing operation. The underground containers were accessible through a garage attached to the house.

"Deputies found 288 starter marijuana plants, 87 adult plants, fertilizer, grow lights, temperature regulars, fans, pots, ballasts, dehumidifiers, CO2 controllers, cloning compound, drying racks, etc.," charging documents state. "All items were working together in a very sophisticated grow operation that appeared to be several years in the making, considering there was old landscaping over the underground operation."

Investigators seized $2,750 cash, four guns and items commonly used by drug dealers. Riffero had outfitted his property with surveillance cameras and a large metal gate with "no trepassing" signs across his driveway.

"Riffero has not had a job in years and pays his bills with USPS money orders," court documents state.

Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said a 12-year-old girl was living in the house and was put into the care of other family members.

A Tacoma man was sentenced to 13 years in prison Monday for heroin distribution, in an investigation that resulted in the largest heroin bust in the city's history.

Alfonso Ibanez Martinez, 32, was convicted in March on conspiracy to distribute heroin and two counts of heroin possession with intent to distrute. The charges carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years. He also faces five additional years of supervised release.

When Martinez was arrested in March 2007, investigators found more than 22 kilograms of heroin hidden in his Park Avenue home. He also had a previous drug conviction in Pierce County under a different name.

OSP photo.

A Kent man was arrested after Oregon State troopers found 65 pounds of marijuana in his car during a traffic stop on July 2.

At about 7:30 a.m., troopers with the Oregon State Police and deputies from the Jackson County Sheriff's Office were doing a joint traffic enforcement patrol on Interstate 5 south of Ashland. They pulled over a 2009 Toyota Camry with Nevada license plates for a traffic violation. The driver was identified as a 22-year-old Kent man.

Officers searched the vehicle, and found 65 individually wrapped one-pound bags of marijuana in the trunk. The haul has a street value of about $195,000, according to the Oregon State Police.

The man was arrested on suspicion of unlawful possession, delivery and manufacturer of a controlled substance – marijuana.

Tuesday morning, the same traffic emphasis patrol resulted in the arrest of a 42-year-old Olympia man and a 41-year-old Tenino man who reportedly had seven pounds of marijuana, a street value of $25,000, in their car.

Federal, state and local law enforcement officials say they've busted another drug trafficking organization that was bringing methamphetamine and cocaine into Washington from Mexico.

The results of the 14-month investigation into the vast drug trafficking network were announced this morning at a press conference.

Officials say they have arrested 31 people, including eight from Pierce County, as part of "Operation Arctic Chill," the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency reported today. Federal drug charges have been filed against 20 of the people arrested. Another three will be charged and arraigned this afternoon.

Investigators say those arrested are part of the Oseguera-Chavez Drug Trafficking Organization.

According to an ICE press release, the leader of the organization is Martin Oseguera-Chavez of Roy. He's believed to be responsible for buying meth and cocaine from dealers in California and Mexico. The drugs were then distributed through other members of the drug trafficking organization.

The drugs were transported along the Interstate 5 corridor in the hidden compartments of vehicles, federal authorities report.

"Members of the DTO sought to conceal their actions, speaking with each other in coded language to describe the drugs, calling crystal methamphetamine 'clothes' or 'blind man' and referring to poor quality drugs as 'stretched' or 'bruised,'" the press release states.

Law enforcement officials have executed more than 35 search warrants over the past two weeks. In Washington, the warrants were served in Carnation, Federal Way, Lynnwood, Olympia, Puyallup, Rainier, Roy, Tacoma, Vancouver and Yelm. Another warrant was executed in Oakdale, Calif., where investigators found an idle meth lab and a pound of meth.

Law enforcement officials also seized more than 19 pounds of meth, a quarter pound of cocaine, $60,000 in cash, 22 vehicles and 23 firearms.

"The success of this joint operation is measured by the fact that we successfully dismantled a criminal drug trafficking organization from the top down," Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of ICE's Office of Investigations, said in a press release. "ICE will continue to partner with DEA and others to more effectively investigate these organizations - from smuggler to distributor - and bring to bear the complete complement of law enforcement’s authorities on this threat to our communities."

Here's a list of who has been charged, their age and their residence when they there arrested. ICE officials are not commenting on the immigration status of any of the defendants because of the criminal investigation, spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said.

Arrested Tuesday:
Martin Oseguera Chavez, 50, Roy
Maria Oseguera Lopez, 50, Roy
Maria Del Socorro Oseguera Oseguera, 33, Lynnwood
Baldemar Huerta Galvan, 28, Lynnwood
Alberto Rosales Torres, 39, Tacoma
Erika Oseguera Oseguera, 26, Yelm
Rosalinda Oseguera Lopez, 44, Roy
Doug Alfonso, 48, Olympia
Rigoberto Farias Contreras, 46, Carnation
Daniel Camarena, 30, Tacoma,
Miguel Mora Esquivel, 36, Federal Way
Harold Wesley Moreland, 59, Olympia
Gabriela Ludmila Safr, 28, Tacoma
Crescenciano Yanez Bucio, 30, Yelm
Bernardo Salazar Ponce, 28, Roy

Arrested Monday
Juan Pablo Rincon-Lopez, 30, Tacoma

Arrested June 13
Juan Antonio Trejo-Lopez, 30, Elma
Juan Trejo-Lopez, 37, Elma
Gregorio Gomez-Lopez, 34, Mossyrock
Eduardo Martinez, 27, Elma

In addition to ICE and DEA, the following agencies were part of the investigation: Auburn Police Department, Bonney Lake Police Department, Centralia Police Department, Federal Way Police Department, Gray’s Harbor Task Force, Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, Puyallup Police Department, South Snohomish Drug Task Force, Tacoma Police Department, Tahoma Narcotics Enforcement Team, Washington Department of Corrections and Washington State Patrol.

Photo courtesy of the AP

Last year, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies busted another sizable drug cartel that was bringing meth into the state from Mexico. Find my story about that bust below.

=> Read more!

A federal judge on Monday sentenced a Mexican national convicted of trafficking methamphetamine in Western Washington to more than seven years in prison.

Herminio Barragan Mendoza, 36, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute meth and being an alien in possession of a firearm. He faces deportation following his prison term.

Federal prosecutors said Mendoza lived in Olympia and owned a farm near Roy at the time of his arrest.

He was one of 22 people arrested in April 2008 following a lengthy police investigation. More than 300 law enforcement officers served 20 search warrants and seized meth, guns and cash in raids in multiple counties.

Federal prosecutors said Mendoza was one of the leaders of the trafficking ring, and assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Thomas asked Monday for a 10-year term for him.

Mendoza's defense attorney, Phil Brennan of Seattle, asked for a sentence just short of six years, saying his client had no prior convictions and that the government's claims that he was a leader of the ring were dubious. Mendoza lived in a rented house and drove used cars, Brennan argued in court documents.

U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle settled on a sentence of seven years, four months. The judge also ordered Mendoza to forfeit his Roy farm to the government.

Five South King County family members were sentenced to prison today for growing thousands of marijuana plants inside houses in Kent, Federal Way and Des Moines, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.

The five men, all Vietnamese immigrants, were among 17 family members initially arrested after a Drug Enforcement Agency raid last September.

Ton Chi Duong, 60, of Kent, characterized by prosecutors as the family patriarch, received a five-year sentence, enhanced because police found a firearm in his grow house.

Bao V. Duong, 54, of Federal Way received a 42-month sentence, also enhanced by a firearms charge. Police found an AK-47 assault rifle in his house.

Also sentenced Friday were Hoi Van Ngo, 41, of Des Moines; Dung Duong, 31, of Kent; and Frank Vuu, 48 of Kent, all of whom were sentenced to 18 months.

Three additional family members have been charged in the case. One of them has entered a guilty plea and is scheduled to be sentenced in July, according to federal prosecutors.

Law enforcement officers arrested the family members after conducting raids on 13 South King County houses on Sept. 10, 2008.

Officers seized more than 5,000 pot plants and more than $70,000 in cash, along with the two weapons.

According to his lawyer, Ton Chi Duong fought with American forces during the Vietnam War and was badly wounded. He fled to the United States after escaping from a Communist prison camp.

He turned to marijuana growing after a landscaping business faltered, his attorney said.

(This item was contributed by TNT staff writer Rob Carson)

An Auburn Police investigation led to the arrests of multiple suspects at a Puyallup Fred Meyer.

Puyallup Police Lt. Dave McDonald said Auburn police were investigating drug activity, which led to arrests at the River Road and Meridian store, with Puyallup Police assisting. The Washington State Patrol's air unit and a trooper also assisted in the arrests.

McDonald said large amounts of cocaine and methamphetamine were confiscated, and an Auburn K-9 unit was searching the suspects' vehicles for more.

Sumner police cordoned off an automotive shop on Main Street East this morning to investigate possible manufacturing of methamphetamine inside.

City of Sumner spokeswoman Carmen Palmer said three people have been detained and police are waiting for a signed search warrant before they go inside.

Palmer said a patrol officer saw suspicious activity in the business located in the 15500 block of Main Street East about 3 a.m. He also smelled the odor of ammonia and saw plastic tubing which are consistent with making meth, she said.

One of the men arrested apparently worked in the shop, Palmer said, adding that the owners of the business who knew nothing about what was going on in the shop at night are cooperating with police.

The Pierce County Clandestine Laboratory Team which handles meth labs was called, Palmer said.

Further details will be posted as they become available.

A 22-year-old man is being held in Pierce County Jail in lieu of $500,000 after a recent arrest on suspicion of drug dealing.

Prosecutors have charged Maurice Lamont Houston Jr. with unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver. At the time of his arrest Wednesday, he had been out on bail on another drug case, court documents state.

His arrest came after an undercover investigation conducted by Tacoma police. Detectives used an informant to conduct controlled purchases of cocaine from Houston earlier this month, court documents state.

On Wednesday, Houston went to meet the informant for a planned buy. Meanwhile, Tacoma police set to serve warrants on Houston's home and to serve him with an arrest warrant.

When officers went to arrest Houston in the 4800 block of Tacoma Mall Boulevard, he fled in a Lincoln Navigator and drove in a reckless manner, court documents state.

"Houston drove off at a high rate of speed, striking several vehicles as he left the parking lot and eventually crashed his vehicle into another vehicle and fire hydrant before fleeing on foot," court documents state.

Officers caught up to Houston a short distance away and arrested him.

Inside the Navigator, investigators found a cellphone and bag of suspected cocaine.

Houston told officers he fled because "he was on his way to sell 'dope' and he knew he already had 'a lot of charges on him, so he might as well make a run for it," court documents state.

A Tacoma man pleaded guilty today in federal court for selling crack cocaine and being a felon in possession of firearms.

Investigators say Orlando Alexander, 40, sold crack in the area of 38th Street in March 2008. Tacoma Police searched the man's home, and found a Frestorm .380 pistol, a Taurus .45 and a Ruger .44 revolver in addition to small amounts of cocaine and Ecstacy. He was arrested at the time of the search, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Alexander had prior drug and assault convictions in King County.

Sentencing is scheduled for September. He faces an agreed sentence of five and a half years.

Federal prosecutors contend two men bought OxyContin pills from the sick and dying in California then sold them for profit in the Puget Sound area, including Tacoma.

On Friday, prosecutors charged Michael Keith Flowers and Thomas James Mitchell with one count each of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone.

According to court documents, Flowers and Mitchell work as care-givers in the Los Angeles area, catering mostly to sufferers of HIV and cancer. Many of their patients had legitimate prescriptions for OxyContin, a brand-name drug containing the powerful pain-reliever oxycodone.

Federal prosecutors contend the men would buy OxyContin pills from their clients for $10 to $15 per pill then sell them to Washington drug dealers for about $30 per pill.

Mitchell was arrested in January in Seattle after federal agents learned what he was doing and set up a buy using a confidential informant.

Mitchell agreed to cooperate and told federal agents he and Flowers traveled to the Puget Sound region about twice a month for the past year. They sold thousands of OxyContin pills here each time they came, court documents state.

The business apparently was lucrative.

Mitchell took a limousine from Sea-Tac Airport to his downtown Seattle hotel during his last trip north, and federal authorities say Flowers was driving a leased Mercedes Benz S550 at the time of his arrest.