Crime & Safety
Agents Nab 2 for Pot Growing, Loaded Gun
A report from the Napa Special Investigations Bureau.
Two Napa men were jailed Monday for pot-growing after local drug agents pulled them over as they left Mount Veeder, according to a press release issued Tuesday afternoon by the :
On Monday evening, Oct 17, 2011, Napa Special Investigations Bureau (NSIB) got a tip about a vehicle parking near a wooded area in western Napa County, near the end of Redwood Road. NSIB had received information earlier in the year of a possible illegal marijuana cultivation in the hills of that area.
NSIB agents waited for the vehicle to leave for approx. 4 hours and then followed it down the mountain, where they coordinated a vehicle stop with a Napa Sheriff’s patrol unit.
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The Deputy immediately noticed a strong odor of unburned marijuana coming from the car. Both the driver, Leonardo Reyes, and his passenger, Andres Ramos, had marijuana resin stained hands and a strong odor, which indicated they had been processing marijuana in the mountain.
The passenger was dressed in jungle camouflage, which is common attire for Mexican Drug Trade Organization (DTO) marijuana cultivation workers.
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The deputy removed Reyes from the driver’s seat for his own safety and subsequently found a loaded .32 caliber handgun which Reyes was apparently trying to conceal under the seat.
Reyes and Ramos were arrested for cultivation of marijuana and charges related to being in possession of a loaded gun were added to Reyes.
On Tuesday morning, Oct 18, 2011, NSIB agents went to the area where Reyes’s vehicle was parked for approx. 4 hours, prior to the coordinated car stop with the Napa Sheriff’s Deputy the evening before.
Starting from that area, NSIB agents located a trail which led them to a marijuana growing operation and processing area, hidden in the woods off of Redwood Road.
No other suspects were found in the site. Over 200 plants were eradicated and several pounds of drying marijuana product were seized as evidence in the case against Reyes and Ramos.
Reyes is a 33-year-old resident of Webber Street and Ramos, 28, lives on E Street, according to NSIB.
