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Three men jailed as suspects of growing hydroponic marijuana
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Agents of the Judicial Investigation Organization arrested three men, surnamed Badilla-Chinchilla, Salazar-Salazar, and Calderón-Ugalde, suspected of selling hydroponically-grown marijuana in the community of Guarari* in the province of Heredia.
Hydroponics is a soil-less method of growing cannabis using water as the primary medium.
According to the preliminary report, the investigation was initiated by the agents about a month and a half ago, after a call to the confidential line, about the planting of plants within a property.
Apparently, the suspects, besides planting marijuana, also sold the drug.
The drug was sold directly to the client or sent expressly. Apparently, "the suspects received the orders by phone and then moved to deliver the drug," the police said in its report.
The arrests of the suspects were the result of several raids in the area. In one location, the property was "used as a warehouse, where all the necessary implements to set up a hydroponic marijuana laboratory were found," said the police in its report.
In addition to the arrests of the suspects, the police seized three pounds of marijuana, a gun-type firearm, $1,780.2 in cash and 600 grams of marijuana in packages.
According to the police report, one gram of marijuana in the market can be priced between $15 and $20.
The three men were taken to the cells of the Public Ministry, where they were interrogated by the judicial agents. The judge ordered three months of pre-trial prison against them.
Related to the most recent case of hydroponic marijuana case, in March, as A.M. Costa Rica previously reported, the judge of the criminal court of the province of Alajuela, ordered pre-trial precautionary measures against a married couple named Atchison, U.S. citizens suspected of growing hydroponic marijuana at their home.
The couple had to surrender their passports at the court, and they are prohibited from leaving the country. According to the ruling, they must keep the same address, refrain from additional criminal behavior and sign in at the court monthly.
The investigation began when police officers from the station in Grecia* in Alajuela, responded to an emergency call about an assault at the home of the U.S. couple.
What police ultimately found was a laboratory used for growing hydroponic marijuana.
According to the police report, the officers received an emergency call from Mrs. Atchison about an assault at her house located in the community of Cajon*. When they arrived, the woman said that men forced their way into the home and "stole cash and jewelry."
The officers then decided to tour the house and make a record of the stolen objects. At that point, they found several pots containing marijuana seeds inside a room. Continuing the search, they found a kind of cellar where marijuana was growing and approximately 30 buds of "creeper" type marijuana inside some glass jugs.
The police report says that "this drug is genetically altered, it has more intense effects, harmful to health, ten times more powerful than the common one, in its consequences are harmful to consumers such as alterations in neuro-development, loss of motivation, memory and cognitive abilities."
The police requested support from the agents of the Judicial Investigation Organization who raided the house.
At the request of the Prosecutor of Grecia, the agents arrested the Atchison's and seized marijuana plants, buds, and seeds as part of the evidence in the case against the Atchison's. Evidence collection was the first step in building a case against the Atchison's for the crime of growing hydroponic marijuana.
The judicial agents call on the population to report any suspicion of drug sales to the confidential line 800-8000-645, where there are bilinguals agents who can answer calls in English or Spanish.
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