West Bend -- More than $15,000 in cash and drugs worth $15,500 were seized
at a Town of Jackson residence, authorities said Thursday.

No arrests have been made in connection with the search, according to Lt.
John Buck with Washington County's Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Enforcement
Group. The investigation is continuing.

The Washington County Sheriff's Department received tips about drug-dealing
at the residence, apparently rented about 10 months ago.

During the search Tuesday, officers seized:

Twelve mature marijuana plants worth about $1,000 each.

Dried marijuana weighing 1.39 pounds, with an estimated street value of
$3,500.

About 3 ounces of hallucinogenic psilocybin mushrooms.

Cash totaling $15,839.

Buck said the residence also contained a large amount of drug paraphernalia.

"There was enough grow equipment for him to have had a grow room there but
there wasn't one when we were there," he said.

Buck said that 1998 has been a very busy year for the enforcement group. A
number of investigations have yet to be completed but have kept members
tied up in surveillance and undercover operations, as well as handling tips
and informants.

Last weekend, a former Town of Barton couple were arrested as a result of a
three-year investigation. Thomas and Danielle Livangood allegedly sold a
total of three-quarters of a pound of marijuana to an informant in 1997.

Ryan Baron, 20, of the Town of Hartford man, was charged with 18 drug
counts in June following a six-month investigation. Charges include six
counts of delivering LSD, four counts of delivering marijuana and one count
of delivering hallucinogenic mushrooms.

"We bought 1,000 units of LSD one time and 2,000 another time; he was a
veritable drug store," Buck alleged.

Baron has been released on a $50,000 property bond.

To date in 1998, the group has confiscated about 11 pounds of marijuana, 11
ounces of mushrooms, about 5 ounces of powder and crack cocaine, and 3,570
units of LSD.

In some cases, the numbers represent a huge increase. For example, the
group seized about 40 units of LSD in 1997.

In 1997, the drug unit confiscated about 20 pounds of marijuana, including
13 pounds that were the result of two cases. Including the latest seizure
in the Town of Jackson, a total of 11 pounds has been seized so far this
year.

In Ozaukee County, the largest recent drug bust involved the seizure of 5
pounds of marijuana in June from a Greenfield couple, said Sheriff's Lt.
Rod Galbraith, who heads the county's drug unit.

Compared with the Washington County Department, the Ozaukee County
department is understaffed for drug enforcement work with 1 1/2 full-time
positions, Galbraith said.

Until a couple of months ago, Mequon assigned two officers to assist the
county on drug investigations. The Mequon department is now too
short-staffed to help. The Cedarburg and Grafton police departments
sometimes lend an officer to the department, Galbraith said.

The Washington County enforcement group includes four members, as well as a
full-time officer from the City of Hartford. Germantown has an officer
assigned part time to the unit.

All law enforcement agencies in Washington County contribute money to the
group, which also receives more than $70,000 in federal money.