Thursday, April 09, 2009

Forest Service assists in pot raid on private property

A Carmel Valley man was arrested and police are searching for his brother after a drug raid on their homes Wednesday. Seaside police Sgt. Bruno Dias said narcotics investigators began a probe about three months ago into an operation that used a Seaside parcel service to ship marijuana out of state after a package bound for Louisiana was intercepted. A UPS clerk smelled marijuana in the package, and the company alerted police, Dias said. The package was traced to Randolph Siino, 57, of Carmel Valley, using a shipping label that hadn't been removed, police said. Seaside officers, Monterey County Sheriff's deputies, and agents from the state's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement and the U.S. Forest Service participated in the raid on Siino's home at 37452 Nason Road. Siino was arrested and booked into county jail after the 9 a.m. raid. Officers searched the Carmel Valley home of his brother, Andrew Siino, 59, at 39600 Laurel Springs Road. He was not there when police arrived and is being sought...The Herald

This involved local law enforcement, a private shipping company and two private residences. So why are Forest Service employees involved?

It's appropriation time again and we'll soon be seeing the annual media campaign howling that the federal land mgt. agencies need more law enforcement personnel to protect the federal lands.

If they are so short-handed, why are they involved in pot raids on private property?

Remember that when you hear their cries for more money.

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