Blair, NE - A huge pot bust in Washington County on Monday. The origins of the drugs is starting to come to light. The Washington County Sheriff's Office delivered nearly 600 lbs. of marijuana to the Drug Enforcement Agency.Cargill employees found the pot in an empty tanker at their plant in Blair, Nebraska.
But where did it come from? "The tanker had been leased to a beer processing plant in mexico.it came back empty except for the marijuana," said D.E.A. Agent L.D. Mathews. The D.E.A. says the reefer wasn't even meant for Nebraska, but instead set for Nogales, Arizona. "It was supposed to set there for a couple days but instead of staying there for 2 days, it stayed there an hour. and that's where it supposed to be unloaded," said Agent Mathews.
The D.E.A. says this type of smuggling happens all the time along the border, but not here in Nebraska. "You don't see drug seizures in tanker cars too often. so it's a novelty here," said Agent Mathews.
The D.E.A. says that they believe the company in Mexico, and Cargill were not involved in the smuggling operation.
Lincoln police say they've found the remnants of another marijuana grow operation in a house on South Eighth Street.
At about 10 a.m. Wednesday, they raided 2504 S. Eighth St. and found a partially dismantled grow operation., Southwest Team Capt. Mike Woolman said.
Officers seized pots, light bulbs, lights and some dead marijuana plants from the house. No live plants were found inside, Woolman said.
The raid is the 12th since March 5.
Since then, police have seized more than 8,000 marijuana plants and served more than 15 search warrants in their investigation into a large pot growing ring in the Lincoln area.
Five people have been charged in connection to the investigation operation.
The number of marijuana grow houses found by Lincoln police climbed to 11 Thursday after investigators uncovered three more operations within a half-mile of each other.
About 3:30 p.m. Thursday, members of the Lincoln/Lancaster County Narcotics Task Force raided 2905 Vine St. An early police estimate put the number of plants seized at around 500.
Around 4:20 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, authorities searched 3345 X St. and seized 572 plants from inside the home.
At about 4 p.m. Wednesday, 3028 Y St. was searched, and 567 plants were seized.
It is unclear if anyone was living at the latest three homes. According to the Lancaster County Assessor's Web site, the three homes are owned by Nghia Nguyen, who does not live at any of the addresses. Nguyen also owns the house at 2910 Orchard St., which was raided Tuesday. Nguyen has not been charged in the cases.
Police have seized more than 7,400 marijuana plants from 11 houses from March 5 through Thursday.
Lincoln police say they've found the remnants of another marijuana grow operation in a house on South Eighth Street.
