From the Harford County Sheriff’s Office:
In late 2016, the Harford County Task Force initiated an investigation stemming from a tip that Harold Junior Morris III, 28, of the 2000 block of Mountain Road, Joppa, Maryland was distributing large amounts of high grade marijuana in and around Harford County.
After several weeks of surveillance, the Task Force, with the assistance of Baltimore County Narcotics Detectives and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) executed state court ordered search and seizure warrants at a storage facility in the 900 block of Pulaski Highway in Joppa, Morris’ residence on Mountain Road, and his bank accounts. The search warrants were executed over the first two weeks of the New Year and the following evidentiary items were seized:
– 249 pounds of various strains of high grade marijuana with an approximate street value of over $1.1 million dollars (storage facility)
– Approximately $185,000 in cash (residence and bank accounts)
– Multiple digital scales (residence and storage facility)
– One money counter (storage facility)
– One heat sealer (storage facility)
– 2008 Mercedes Benz C300 *(residence in Baltimore County, MD)
– 2011 Jaguar XF sedan (residence)
– 2007 Toyota Highlander SUV (storage facility)
– 2014 BMW motorcycle (residence)
– Flat screen televisions, high value women’s jewelry and handbags (residence)
– Two Honda personal watercraft and trailer (residence)
– Two large four-wheel ATVs (residence)
– One off-road motorcycle/dirt bike (residence)
Morris, along with his live-in girlfriend, Sherrie Lyn Miller, 26, was arrested during the course of the search warrant executed at Morris’ residence. Both were transported to the Harford County Detention Center where they were charged with possession with intent to distribute large amount of marijuana, possession of marijuana, and possession not marijuana (mushrooms). Both were released on $50,000 bond and are awaiting trial.
The Task Force believes Morris and Miller were obtaining their marijuana via source suppliers in California then selling it in and around Harford County. The storage facility was utilized to receive, store and package the marijuana prior to distribution. “This is a significant seizure of marijuana that will no longer make it to the streets of Harford County and into the hands of the most vulnerable of our citizens, our youth,” said Captain Lee Dunbar, Commander of the Task Force.
“We know through the vast amount of data we collect on our heroin overdose investigations, almost 80% of our heroin overdose victims advised they started using marijuana at an early age, most between the ages of 12-15, and believed it was a gateway drug. Marijuana is a dangerous drug, not just a harmless or victimless recreational drug.”
The Harford County Task Force is a highly trained, self-governing, multijurisdictional entity with a mission to investigate offenses in the areas of mid to upper level drug trafficking, homeland security, and vice while supporting and facilitating cooperation and coordination among federal, state, and local law enforcement. The Harford County Task Force is comprised of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, Maryland State Police, Aberdeen Police Department, Bel Air Police Department, Havre de Grace Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Harford County States Attorney’s Office, working together to make Harford County a safer place to live.
http://healthland.time.com/2010/10/29/marijuna-as-a-gateway-drug-the-myth-that-will-not-die/
Damn it’s so quite in here please lock them up before they becom famous and run for president
This is so boring I guess the deplorable only debate current events when it fits their profile of what a criminal looks like
Gateway drug my ass, the only thing weed is a gateway too in the fridge. Legalize it and put the black market out of business and tax it. Instead of the money going out of state it could be used here, that’s 1 million bucks the state will never see again. Wake up people if you don’t want to smoke don’t kinda like alcohol if you don’t want to drink no one is forcing you God gave you a natural plant to take you problems away and you idiots made it illegal.
Cheech, your first phrase just keeps cracking me up! 😀
Yes, decriminalize and tax it. It’s that easy folks.
If you take a moment to re-read the article, you’ll find that the ‘gateway drug’ comment appears to have been made by heroin overdose victims themselves, not a HarCo Task Force member or the writer of this article. This is not to say that I believe pot is a gateway drug (I don’t), but to point out that you’re attempting to argue with … heroin users. Seems like a waste of breath.
I will say ‘Great Job’ and ‘Thank You’, to all the departments that make up the Task Force! Until possession and distribution of this quantity of this drug is made legal (if ever), the Task Force is doing exactly what they are paid to do and providing a better quality of life in the county while they do it! Keep in mind that it is not just the drug itself that causes problems in our county, it is all of the additional illegal activity that comes along with it. Unless you want to legalize All currently illegal drugs, you won’t solve the problem. Or, maybe you think the ethics of distributers like the two arrested here would prevent them from buying/selling some Other illegal drug(s), should pot become (more) legalized?
If pot is in fact a ‘gateway drug’, I’d say it is more a gateway for the sellers as their obvious material wants will motivate them to move on to even more profitable drug distribution … perhaps heroin.
I am going to have to agree with you on this particular instance. This was about a for profit marijuana distribution network that stretched from Maryland to California. I disagree with the “gateway drug” theory. I disagree with intel about “gateway drugs” from heroin users. Heroin users are a special kind of crazy. I also disagree with the whole moving on to more profitable substances theory. They were definitely making all the money they needed. When I got in trouble, I was growing for myself and one other person who was part of the grow and claimed he was using it himself and providing it to his dying father. I did NOT profit from crime, nor do I think I should have been convicted, but that’s another story. This is what the Task Force is supposed to do. I have nothing negative to say about Law Enforcement actions toward someone getting rich from marijuana distribution while it is still illegal. Especially since they were storing it in a public storage area. There is no expectancy of privacy there. There is in a home however and I will argue that point until the sun stops shining.
I totally agree with what you say. Someone made a comment about this on Facebook concerning, “what’s the big deal? It should be legalized anyway.” My response was a dealer, is a dealer, is a dealer and with dealing there is violence. Don’t believe me, then move next door and I hope your house doesn’t get shot up in the next feud these people might have with another dealer.
I disagree, however, with your comment about pot not leading to other drug use. I grew up in a shit hole in AACO. Drugs were rampant. I watched friends who I knew all my life graduate from pot in middle school, to crack, meth and heroin by high school. Some of them died. They were the reason I never touched any illegal drugs. I saw the havoc it created. Fast forward, 20 years later in HarCo. Because of my job, drug users are in the wings and almost every single one of these people will tell you, they graduated from pot to harder stuff over the years. I’ve also known people who have used pot on a recreational level, never to graduate beyond that. I’m not a drug counselor or a psychiatrist, but it seems to me (through life experiences) that the hard core drug users have either a chemical imbalance or some other trauma, either physical or mental, that makes them more susceptible to graduation. It’s like the pot “doesn’t do it,” for them anymore or someone introduces the harder stuff to them and they cling to it. I think that legalizing pot will only lead to more graduation to harder stuff and thus, more crime and deaths. I’ve never seen anyone know from alcohol to heroin. They usually stick with alcohol or move into pot and then up to harder stuff. Also, remember and never lose sight of the fact that just because you make something legal doesn’t mean that eliminates abuse…Look at prescription medications. They are legal so long as you are prescribed them and they are still abused and sold in the black market.
As for these two dealers, I say good riddance from our County and don’t drop the soap at your stay in Jessup. Excellent job by law enforcement!!
I have to point out that drugs seem to be OK if the state says its OK, due to regulation of the drug or another translation is that the state makes money off of it. Never forget that caffeine, tobacco and alcohol are drugs as well. Caffeine is the gateway drug to those that enjoy an up high and yes caffeine gives you a high. Caffeine is highly addictive as well and if you don’t believe me try to get a coffee drinker to get through a morning without any coffee. They are a wreck ALL day long. Cigarettes are another gateway drug and in my opinion are just as addictive as any other substance known to man. When I was in jail, I never once craved marijuana. Cigarettes are what I craved, at least for the first month or so. I also believe that alcohol is far more dangerous than marijuana or caffeine. Alcohol dependency is nasty and I believe it also causes premature aging of the body and the destruction of vital organs as well. I also believe alcohol leads to greater use of tobacco and the use of cocaine in alot of instances. I think what you’re alluding to is that marijuana is the first illegal drug that most people are exposed to. People that want an altered perception or a “high” normally do try marijuana first as its more readily available to the masses than other illegal drugs. I’ve met people that tried marijuana and just didn’t like it, yet go ape sh_it over cocaine. Especially when used in conjunction with alcohol. I could go on all day with this topic, but won’t. I think that we all have to realize that drugs are part of society and what makes most drugs legal are the widespread use of those drugs throughout society, which in turn make the drug “acceptable”. Marijuana probably should have been legalized decades ago, due to its widespread use throughout society and its dangers are very minimal. I’ve never heard of an overdose on marijuana, nor have I ever been convinced that anyone has been “addicted” to marijuana. The only real danger of marijuana is the effects on the person’s life if they get caught using it and that is sad. We can ALL agree that getting rich off of distributing any illegal substance is wrong and that is why the individuals in this article are wrong.
Oh and by the way, I’m going to let you in on something that a lot of people believe which is false. There is no widespread raping of individuals in jail. There really isn’t any acts of sex involving two or more people in jail as the guards don’t allow it to happen. The only real sexual device that is in any jail is masturbation. It’s frowned on as well, but in DOC it is tolerated to a degree. The whole insinuation of “Don’t drop the soap”, is but a myth. It just doesn’t happen like the masses believe. The only people who I’ve heard of getting it in jail are rapists, child molesters, and woman beaters. These are what the inmates find to be repulsive. These individuals in this article are in danger of being molested by the guards moreover than any inmate they encounter. The molestation by the guards will be no more than peering up their butts to make sure no contraband is being smuggled between facilities. Just thought I’d clear that up because the terms of “Watch out for big bubba” and “Don’t drop the soap” are nothing but myths…..
Legalize it, tax it, then use that revenue to defray the cost of the task force.
Then that task force can then focus on the REAL problem….HEROIN (at little or no cost to the productive members of society!)
It really is that simple people!
My point about moving on to more profitable drug distribution was to say that if marijuana was suddenly legalized tomorrow, I don’t think these two were going to say “shucks honey, looks like we’ll have to get a legit job now”. Hence the reason I get so irritated with people with the knee-jerk response (to any/all illegal activity involving marijuana) of “just legalize it” (and all the problems go away). There are lots of other aspects to the drug market and lots of other drugs for people to switch their ‘business model’ over to. Legalizing pot doesn’t make the criminals go away, it just forces them to find another (illegal) way to earn money. It does of course save the ‘average Joe’ from getting arrested and cycled through the system over and over, for what equates to nothing vastly different than the ‘average Jane’ sitting next to him, indulging in her bottle of wine (as long as they both stay put on the porch).
For the record, I am, for the most part, ok with marijuana being legalized. (The aspects that I’m not ok with are a different subject.)
I also believe that people like these two that were arrested, generally will find another illegal way (another illegal substance) to buy/sell/distribute as that’s where the big $$ is for those that don’t want to work a 40 hr a week ‘day job’ to legally earn the money to live the lifestyle that they clearly desire. There’s also a pretty good likelihood that they don’t even possess the skills necessary to earn that kind of money… legally. They are both relatively young to have been moving that much product and handling that much money on their own, for any great length of time. Had they avoided detection for another year (or few), I would bet that they would have either expanded their operation and/or moved on to higher profit drugs. In my experience, greedy people just get greedier. So while they were making all the money they ‘needed’, they probably weren’t making all the money they ‘wanted’.
As to your last point, I fully agree with your expectations of privacy in the home. Additionally, I’d still like to have it in a lot of places outside my home (aka, a pipe dream)!
Dude did you just use your email address as your name? Are you stoned?
Not in more years than I care to count (but I have to at least enjoy the irony of the situation) 🙂