ATTEMPT TO BRING MARIJUANA INTO JAIL RESULTS IN DRUG BUST

BENTONVILLE (AP) -- An attempt to smuggle a marijuana joint to a Benton
County Jail trusty led to a huge drug raid in Southwestern Missouri,
authorities said.

Authorities found between 750 and 1,000 marijuana plants in a raid at a
rural house and one officer said the growing operation was the most
sophisticated he had ever seen. A Drug Enforcement Administration agent
valued the pot at $750,000 to $1.5 million. The Barry County sheriff said
the drug raid was the largest in the county since the 1980s. "The
investigation is continuing," Deputy Tom Brewster, public information
officer for the Benton County sheriff's office, said Monday. "We anticipate
multiple arrests in Missouri and in Arkansas."

The raid occurred Friday after a Benton County investigator learned of an
attempt to get a joint to a trusty, who mowed yards and did other work
around the jail. Brewster said a joint was left for the trusty in an area
that he mows.

After the trusty brought the joint into the jail, several inmates smoked
it. The inmates were then questioned by authorities.

"One joint resulted in a bust of well over $1 million," Brewster said.
"Sometimes we win."

He also said the trusty had not been charged. "He's not going to go
anywhere so we don't need to hurry," Brewster said.

Benton County deputies joined with those in Barry County, the southern
Missouri office of the DEA and the Southwestern Missouri Drug Task Force to
raid the house on 21 acres.

Sheriff Mick Epperly of Barry County said the growing operation included
revolving and track-lighting systems, a timer to control the lighting, a
room where sprouting plants were grown and another room where larger plants
were taken after repotting.