On October 23, 2006 at approximately 2330 hours, Santa Monica Police responded to a citizen complaint of possible drug activity occurring in the 1500 block of 6th Street. Responding officers observed two suspicious vehicles at the location. Four persons were detained, all of whom smelled of marijuana and admitted to recently smoking marijuana in a nearby parking lot. A drug detection canine arrived at the scene and alerted for the presence of narcotics in both vehicles. A search of the vehicles led to the recovery of over an ounce of high-quality marijuana and an electronic scale from one car, and over four ounces of cocaine, two ounces of high quality marijuana, an electronic scale and packaging material from another car.
All four suspects were arrested and booked for narcotics charges. One of the suspects admitted to being a “marijuana connoisseur.” The suspect stated that he is not ill and does not possess a prescription for medical marijuana but he does obtain his high quality marijuana from various cannabis collectives located in West Los Angeles and Hollywood. The suspect said he had several friends who worked at cannabis collectives and they obtained the high quality marijuana for his recreational use.
The investigation is on-going. Anyone with information regarding this incident or other drug-related crimes is urged to contact the Santa Monica Narcotics/Vice Section at 310.458.8455. Anonymous tips maybe left at the SMPD Narcotics Tip Line 310.458.2292 or the We-Tip national hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME (27463). Callers with information that leads to an arrest and conviction become eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
