CITY POLICE SEIZE 200 POUNDS OF MARIJUANA 5 ARE ARRESTED

Business Break-In Leads To Discovery Of Drugs, Guns

A routine call for a suspected break-in at a business near the
southern edge of Baltimore led police to 200 pounds of marijuana that
detectives believe was smuggled here from Mexico.

The drugs, worth an estimated $300,000 on the street, were discovered
Monday afternoon by a maintenance man who dialed 911 after finding a
broken lock. The office is in a strip of businesses in the 3100 block
of Lorena Ave.

Police arrested five people Monday night who leased the office under
the name Astec Inc., which was supposed to print T-shirts, at two
rowhouses in West and Northeast Baltimore. Officers said they seized a
Tec-9 pistol, an AR-15 and an AK-47 assault rifle.

Lt. Jesse Oden said that the suspects have ties to Jamaica. He said
police were surprised to find four 50-pound bails of marijuana, two of
the weapons, a 150-pound-capacity scale and $10,000 in plain view in
the 16-by-70-square-foot office. The AR-15 rifle was found in one
suspect's house.

"There were no T-shirts in the place," Oden said. "The smell of
marijuana was strong. They tried to disguise the odor with perfume and
turpentine."

Those charged yesterday were: Pauline Schloss, 46; Victor Schloss, 41;
and Hugh Hamilton, 35, all of the 1500 block of Wadsworth Way in
Northeast Baltimore. Also arrested were Elaine Louise Fletcher, 59,
and Percival Fletcher, 48, both of the 2400 block of Baker St. in West
Baltimore.

All five were charged with 11 drug distribution and gun possession
counts. Officer Jimmy Dease, one of the investigators, said the U.S.
Attorney's office is reviewing the case to determine whether it merits
federal prosecution.

Police described the seizure as significant. But it is not one of the
region's largest. In 1997, federal investigators seized a ton of
cocaine worth an estimated $25 million stored in a Baltimore warehouse
and smuggled into the country from Central America.

Oden and Dease said the investigation into Monday's seizure and
arrests is continuing, and they have no idea whether the attempted
break-in is connected to the drug operation or was a
coincidence.

Top police officials commended the officers involved, all of whom are
in uniformed patrol and not part of a specialized drug unit. They were
led by Sgt. Anthony E. Barksdale.

Police said they have traced the origin of the drugs to Mexico. They
don't know yet how it crossed the border into Los Angeles, but Oden
said the marijuana went from there to New Jersey by commercial
airline, apparently hidden in crates containing T-shirts.

>From there, Oden said the drugs were transported by boat to Baltimore
and then by a rented truck to the warehouse.