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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend November 9, 2005 Pot grow suspects turned over to immigration By CHRIS CONRAD Mail Tribune Jackson County Sheriff’s detectives have yet to link seven Hispanic suspects taken into custody to a 4,800-plant marijuana grow found last week in forestland near Ruch. Sheriff Mike Winters cites a lack of physical evidence needed to make a case against the men, who were arrested last Sunday after police conducted a search of a square-mile patch of woods around the garden. The men were detained on immigration holds and spent Sunday night in the Jackson County Jail. They were turned over to Immigration and Naturalization Service agents at 7 a.m. the next morning. Winters said that he doesn’t know where the men are now. He did not have their names available Tuesday night, but he said that he would release them today. An unidentified hunter tipped deputies to the garden on Oct. 23. Deputies removed the plants that day. Last Sunday, another hunter told police that he saw armed Hispanic men near the grow. Police seized 11 guns from the men, who told them they were deer hunting. They were never charged with any drug-related crimes. An eighth Hispanic man found with the group was never arrested after police learned that he was a legal citizen. Advertisement Winters said the investigation is continuing. The best police can do now if they are able to link the men with the grow is issue a warrant for their arrests. The warrant would be served if the men returned to the U.S. after deportation, Winters said. "We’re not going to falsely accuse them if we don’t have any evidence to connect them to a crime," Winters said. "We either have them or we don’t. We’re not going to guess at it." At this point, Winters said he is glad to have eliminated the garden before it was harvested. Weather conditions and woolly terrain make it difficult to collect physical evidence at marijuana grows, Winters said. "Without physical evidence whose to say they weren’t out there deer hunting," Winters said. Reach reporter Chris Conrad at 776-4459, or e-mail Pot grow suspects turned over to immigration ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Online Casino Salvia Divinorum Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Rogue Valley Travel Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Casino Gambling Sites Budget Website Templates Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Advertisement s