Something is rotten in the state of Canada. The country’s national statistics agency, Statistics Canada, recently reported that while the overall crime rate is at a 30-year low, drug arrests are at a 30-year high. Befuddled Canadian officials could only speculate as to any causes for the huge discrepancy.

Several possibilities could explain this phenomenon:

1. Some sort of Brave New World-esque ‘Soma’ drug has pacified all of the canucks simultaneously. Good old burglary and assault just can’t compete with the vast psychotropic pleasures offered by this new substance.
2. Someone at the provincial police department thought they might try only enforcing drug crimes for a decade or three. After all, why go through all of the legwork of investigating and pursuing actual violent criminals when you can simply hit up your local street corner and do some drug rips? Easy in, easy out, arrest rates stay up, and no homework for the cops.
3. Every single Canadian criminal is now safely behind bars.

To be fair, #3 can’t be the case. As it turns out, Statistics Canada reports that almost half of all drug charges in 2007 were stayed, withdrawn, or dismissed. Furthermore, 2 out of 3 of all of the record-tallying drug arrests were for marijuana.

It would seem that the nation of Canada has proved that there is little to no association between drug use and crime (as the heightened drug use has corresponded with the lowest crime rate in memory.) Also, it appears that due to the remarkably low crime rate, there is virtually nothing for the Canadian police to do with their time other than harass weed smokers (who inevitably are released without charge.)

There are few things more dangerous than hicks who are both bored and heavily armed. Perhaps the National Curling and/or Hockey League should expand their recruitment — for all our sakes.

• Patricia Gutierriez, a dumbass manager at a Brownwood KFC, faces ten years in prison for dealing drugs out their drive-thru.

• Previously convicted on drug related charges, Orlando Alexander, 40, of Tacoma, WA, faces six and half years in prison for federal gun and drug charges.

• Four men from Mission, TX face up to 40 years and a $2,000,000 fine for sending a ton and a half of pot through the mail for a year.

• Convicted sex offender and a true degenerate to society, Thomas Y. Pellerin of Vermont, was arrested and held on various charges of him trying to trade sex with teens for drugs.

• A man in the Philippines is given a thirty year prison sentence for possessing 436 grams of pot.

• Crime stoppers tips and an ongoing investigation led to the arrest of two brothers in Colorado and the seizure of 85.6 grams of cocaine.

• Three men from Bossier City, LA, were arrested for various drug related charges — all stemming from a noise complaint check that led police inside of the home.

• A missing Nevada man, Isaiah Marsh, is reportedly connected to a huge marijuana growing operation.

• Former Olympic swimmer, Scott Miller, pleads guilty to supplying ecstasy.

On Tuesday, Pedro Covil, 24, dodged spending 56 and a half years behind bars when he entered a plea agreement that gave him ten years for first-degree cocaine possession with intent to distribute, second-degree conspiracy to distribute drugs and second-degree possession of a firearm while distributing drugs.

It all started May 21, during Operation Blood Money, a six-month investigation led police to the arrest of 61 people and the seizure of more than 6.5 ounces of cocaine, ecstasy, heroin, marijuana, two handguns, ammunition, gang-related materials, and $6,772. Police found 43 packs of heroin and about 19 grams of cocaine, along with a loaded .38-caliber handgun with ammunition in Covil’s home safe. Another 4.5 ounces of cocaine was stashed at another location, in New Brunswick.

Sentencing for Covil is on June 26th. Covil would have to serve five years of that sentence before he could be eligible for parole.

James “9milz” Truong, 18, from West Hartford has been sentenced to five years in prison, but under a plea deal he will only have to serve one of those years and three years of probation. He was convicted for various drug trafficking related charges after sending mass e-mails to potential buyers, announcing his new acquisition of marijuana. He asked them to call his cell to arrange for pick-ups.

After being arrested three times in the past six months for various charges, you’d think a homeboy would lope his merchandise.

By checking the text messages on Truong’s cell phone, police were able to arrest eight people who bought weed from Truong or his buddy at the two apartments on Oakwood Avenue and Prospect Street in West Hartford. Police recovered more than $3,000 in cash, over 14 ounces of marijuana, digital scales, packaging supplies and cell phones.

Citizen’s Arrest on… Himself

A 50-year old South Carolina man found a crack pipe in his bag and tried to arrest himself.

Drunk Man Smuggles Sock o’ Pot into Jail

A drunk man in Georgia was arrested after being found passed out in someone’s car and taken to jail, where he became more belligerent as guards found a bag of weed in his sock.

Fake Piss Lands 4 in Jail

Four Texas men go to jail for being idiots actually. Yes, it’s a crime. Read more here.

Man Arrested for Pot Possession and Fleeing

A man in South Carolina tried to evade police through two cities and winds up crashing into a SUV.

Armed Robbery Leads to 100g of Pot

Two men in Illinois were arrested and charged with armed robbery, felony marijuana possession and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute after being pulled over for being suspects to a mugging.

Indiana Drug Task Force Called in After Wreck

A man in Indiana dies after colliding with a semi — his Nissan is smashed to pieces, $20 bills were floating in the air and a small amount of marijuana was found.

200 Immature Pot Plants Seized After Traffic Stop

A man in Florida was arrested and charged with multiple drug charges after he initially ran a stop sign.

Trucker Busted, 600 Pounds of Pot Seized

On Thursday, a trucker from Texas was pulled over on Interstate 70 in Lafayette County in NW Missouri and after a search of his tractor trailer at a secondary location, police find 600 pounds of marijuana.

Two Arrested on Missouri Drug Bust

A drug raid was authorized in Neosho, Missouri which led to 2 arrests and the seizure of an undisclosed, but large amount of meth, individually packaged for resale, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and a large amount of cash.

Heroin Packed Iranian Books Seized

On Friday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers said that earlier in the week at a DHL center based in Wilmington, Ohio they intercepted a shipment of heroin, hidden in books that originally came from Iran.

Border Patrol Agents Score a Turkey

In 3 separate incidents, U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Tucson Center, stopped hidden compartment smuggler operations. All together 3,684 pounds of marijuana were seized. All together in the first 6 months of the fiscal period of 2009, the Tucson Center has seized about 600,000 pounds – a record for Border Patrol.

On Wednesday, at Border Patrol Checkpoint State Route 85, agents arrested 4 people when they found 1,000 pounds of marijuana ($800,000) within a hidden compartment in 2 vehicles’ trailers.

Also on Wednesday, at Interstate 19 Checkpoint, a man was arrested after a K-9 drug sniffing dog alerted agents to the presence of possible contraband in a vehicle and after a secondary inspection was conducted 127 pounds ($101,600) was discovered in a hidden compartment.

Agents from the same station on early Thursday chased a suspicious vehicle and stopped the vehicle 3,000 feet north of Mexico causing the driver to bail and like Speedy Gonzalez, haul ass back home, leaving behind 2,557 pounds (over $2,045,000) of marijuana, packaged in 105 bales.

On Thursday, Roxanne Halvorson, 38, of Grand Forks, North Dakota, reached a plea agreement of 2.5 years in prison and a supervised probation for being an accomplice to manufacturing meth, possessing drug paraphernalia and child endangerment. Her sentencing hearing is being held on June 16.

Last year, on November 15th, Halvorson let her nephew, Derik Ostlund, 20, and his girlfriend, Candy Reed, 33, cook and use methamphetamine in her duplex — while her children were home. A fire erupted, apparently caused by heated meth pipes. Nobody was hurt, but nine people, including four that lived above the duplex lost their homes in the blaze.

Reed was sentenced to 4 years in prison and 4 years supervised probation for making methamphetamine and reckless endangerment. Ostlund is scheduled to be sentenced May 27, facing the same charges.

A woman identified as, Margueritta Lancaster-Reid of Ontario a.k.a. ‘Ganja Granny,’ has pled guilty, stemming from a March 28th arrest for drug smuggling. Reid was searched by customs at Donald Sangster International Airport in Jamaica, where they found eight pounds of marijuana hidden in her luggage.

What makes this case different from any other bust is the fact that Reid is 71-years old. She is to be sentenced Friday and could face up to a year in prison. This is the second elderly person in recent news to be arrested for having large quantities of marijuana.

What is the purpose of sending the elderly to prison — especially for marijuana smuggling charges? Anyone that’s followed American history knows that slave labor was replaced with prison labor. I really would like to know what kind of labor a 71-year old grandmother is going to accomplish.

Oscar Oropeza, 47, of Brownsville, TX, was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison for drug trafficking and money laundering. He is the third member of the Oropeza family to be sentenced in connection with a drug operation that has netted them $5 million since 2002. He also was ordered to forfeit the real estate where the family’s home and garden, car wash and trucking businesses were located in Harlingen and Brownsville.

Oropeza and his wife, Tina Marie, were arrested on May 31, 2007, in Saraland, Alabama, where authorities said they found ~84 kilograms of cocaine in a hidden compartment in their van. Federal agents investigating the family found that the drugs were placed in the van’s hidden compartments in Matamoros, Mexico, and then driven across the bridge into Brownsville by another family member.

Tina Marie Oropeza was sentenced to 10 months in prison and five years probation in November for conspiracy to launder money. The Oropezas’ daughter, Paulina Marie, was given six months in prison and five years probation for misprision of a felony. Charges against the couple’s son were dismissed.

Authorities say the smuggling ring moved cocaine and marijuana from Mexico to Alabama and Florida every two to three weeks. Oscar Oropeza would collect $700,000 to $1 million per trip after the delivery and was paid $1,300 per kilogram transported.

A task force (Sheriff’s Department’s Narcotics Bureau) including the sheriff’s department and two federal agencies (DEA and ICE) raided 38 locations Tuesday morning which led to the arrest of 48 East Los Angeles gang members and the seizure of 15 kilograms of heroin, $100,000 in small bills, five vehicles and two guns. 14 children were taken into protective custody.

That’s amazing that out of 48 gang members being arrested that only 2 guns were confiscated? That doesn’t make sense. The ring moved an estimated 15 kilograms of heroin per week, producing revenue of nearly $2 million per month. The video clip says that the ring was a family… that lived in moderate homes and drove inexpensive cars.

Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore says:

The source of the drugs was from the Mendoza family of Mexico. The drugs were smuggled across the border to East Los Angeles and then distributed throughout Southern California communities, including San Diego and Ventura counties. They were then distributed by 11 East Los Angeles gangs, including the Brown Brotherhood, White Fence, City Terrace, Marina Maravilla, East L.A. Rife, Barrio Locos and the Hick Boys.

Apparently an additional 88 arrests were made since the investigation began in September. With Obama working with Mexico and providing $1.7 billion to fight the drug war, Mexico should be able to arrest and bring down these cartels that are plaguing our countries with drugs and violence. I guarantee you they will have guns though and they won’t go quietly. It really will be a war but finally we’ll see the true war on drugs in action.

Timothy J. Landrum of the Drug Enforcement Administration said:

The relationship between drugs and street gangs isn’t new to the DEA.

Street gangs continue to fund their operations through the illicit drug market–in this case, preying on those vulnerable in our communities through the sale of heroin on the streets of Los Angeles. Those arrested today were responsible for bringing more than 150,000 doses of heroin onto the streets of Los Angeles every week — enough heroin to supply thousands of people, with a street value of more than half a million dollars. DEA will continue to work with our laws enforcement partners, working together to rid our neighborhoods of violent drug traffickers and street gangs.

Well good, finally something is happening in this country. It will be a tremendous start by going back to the source of the drugs, like in this case Mexico, and shutting the cartels down. This ring existed supposedly for decades… it will be a war because this is their business, their income and their way of life. Then they have to stay vigilant and know that another cartel will then takeover or a new one will be created and the circle of blood will continue. It’s the same as the gangs in the United States. Once they are shut down, they have to stay shut down… and something has to be done to prevent others from starting again.

Trenell Murphy, 33, was recently charged with possession — of 41 kilograms of cocaine.

The seizure, at an estimated value of $3 million of cocaine, is the largest ever by Baltimore Police Department without the help of federal officials. The Associated Press reports more than 150 kilos were found by federal officials near the port.

Murphy was under surveillance at the time the cocaine was discovered, and was busted after a warrant yielded enough coke to accommodate a Robert Downey Jr.-sized binge. The suspect has two prior arrests for cocaine and is expected to be held without bail.

Not too long after 18-year old Spokane resident Daniel Obannon deposited $2,300 in some weed-stinky bills, his house received a courtesy call from two sheriff’s deputies.

It turns out that bank employees do have noses, and also the ability to detect money that reeks like pot. Combine the two and you end up with those same employees calling the sheriff’s office to alert them of possible criminal activity.

Sheriff’s showed up to Daniel Obannon’s house to find his brother, Shawn, at home. He denied them entry, but the law returned with a search warrant after attesting to the odor of fresh marijuana emanating from the house.

Once inside, the deputies found about two pounds of weed, 20 starter plants and a bag of 50 hydrocodone pills (that last one is a big no-no). The brother’s $2300 deposit was confiscated and Shawn was arrested on charges of Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Deliver. Daniel never went home, his brother probably tipped him off after the initial sheriff’s visit, so he is now wanted for the same charge as his brother with an additional felony for those pesky hydrocodone pills.

I’m pretty sure there’s a lesson to be learned here. Who knows it?

I never fully understand why celebrities continually get caught doing stupid things behind the wheel. Apparently Leroy Hill is not above the influence. If you earn $200,000 a year or more, as every starter in the NFL does (by a sufficient margin), then there’s no reason you can’t call a cab.

Leroy Hill, a linebacker for Seattle, got caught with a couple baggies of weed in his car — because he fell asleep at an intersection at 4 am. Reportedly, Hill passed out and didn’t come to until officers responded to complaints about a motorist asleep at the wheel.

It certainly helps explain why Seattle’s defense was so awful this year.