CHESTERFIELD POLICE SEIZE MARIJUANA, 2 JUVENILES

65-POUND HAUL IS WORTH $60,000; ONE SUSPECT FLEES

Police raided a hotel room over the weekend and seized about 65 pounds of
marijuana in what is believed to be the largest drug seizure in Chesterfield.

The marijuana had an estimated street value of more than $60,000, police
said Wednesday.

Chesterfield police and the St. Louis County Multi-Jurisdictional Task
Force were acting on a tip that there was marijuana in a room at the
Residence Inn, 15431 Conway Road. Investigators set up surveillance at the
hotel and watched a suspect enter the room, retrieve the drugs and try to
leave the hotel.

Two juvenile suspects, one from St. Louis and the other from University
City, were taken into custody at the scene and turned over to juvenile
authorities.

A 23-year-old suspect escaped. Investigators know his identity but have
been unable to locate him. Capt. Ed Nestor said the suspect has a lengthy
criminal record, including drug-related offenses.

All three are suspected of trying to buy drugs at the hotel. Police are
still investigating who put the drugs in the hotel room.

"Most of our drug arrests are from vehicle stops, and the drugs seized
there are usually only an ounce or two," Nestor said.

He added that the large seizure doesn't necessarily mean that illegal drugs
are becoming a larger problem for Chesterfield.

"This type of activity is happening at hotels near major highways all
across the country," Nestor said. "We just happened to get this through the
luck of the draw."

Anyone with information can call the Chesterfield Police Department at
(314) 537-3000.

This weekend's seizure was similar in size to a May 1997 seizure in St.
Peters. In that incident, police confiscated 43.7 pounds of marijuana,
worth about $140,000, from a storage locker that had not been touched in
several months. In 1997, investigators found 670 pounds of pot in a truck
they stopped on Interstate 44.

The largest stash of marijuana confiscated in the St. Louis area was seized
in December 1996. St. Louis police took 2,100 pounds of marijuana from a
residence in the 3900 block of Chippewa Street.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski