CARSON-AREA POT BUST HIGHLIGHTS PROBLEMS IN PROSECUTION

A marijuana bust described as the largest in recent Northern Nevada history
has produced a misdemeanor conviction and possible deportation of one man
but no other charges.

Law enforcement said it has run into a couple of problems prosecuting
people they think are connected to 460 marijuana plants found in a remote
canyon east of Carson City near the Lyon County line, including Nevada
legislators taking marijuana cultivation out of the list of state crimes.

"I'd like to see legislation drafted that would help law enforcement
prosecute these outdoor grow operations," said Lt. Mark Jackson of the
Tri-NET Narcotics Task Force. The marijuana was worth between $500,000 and
$2.5 million.

A hiker notified authorities in August of the marijuana growing in the area
east of Carson City investigators call North Canyon.

Tri-NET coordinated a 15-member surveillance team that spent about 400 to
500 hours watching the site before Leobardo Martinez-Rojas, 29, of Carson
City, was arrested there Aug. 25.

Martinez, also known as Antonio Nava, had a court hearing scheduled Tuesday
on a felony marijuana possession charge. But he settled the case by
pleading guilty Sept. 21 in Carson Justice Court to a misdemeanor count of
possession of illegal drugs to introduce into interstate commerce. Martinez
was sentenced to time served and was ordered to be turned over by Oct. 8 to
immigration officials who wanted to review his immigration status.

"The investigation is continuing, and we're still trying to develop some
additional intelligence information," Jackson said. Since it happened on
Bureau of Land Management property, federal authorities also are
investigating. A BLM investigator could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Jackson said that while the Nevada Legislature was rewriting Nevada's drug
laws in 1999 to crack down on methamphetamine production, it mistakenly
left out wording that makes marijuana cultivation illegal.

Carson City Chief Deputy District Attorney Anne Langer agreed the law needs
to be fixed.

Another problem, Langer said, is connecting the people they believe are
growing the marijuana to the plants.

"You would literally have to have their hand wrapped around a plant that
(weighed) more than an ounce," Langer said.

Still, she noted, 460 marijuana plants were taken out of circulation.