Oregon Man Busted By the DEA

Earlier this year, an Oregonian named Juan Pineda-Moreno was convicted of growing marijuana after police tracked his car to a suspected growing site. Pineda-Moreno appealed, citing the fact that on two occasions DEA agents placed tracking devices on his car while it was in his driveway -- which he considered private, not public, property -- and therefore breached his Fourth Amendment rights.

Pineda-Moreno tipped law enforcement off when he was seen buying a large amount of fertilizer from Home Depot. The fertilizer, one typically used to grow marijuana, was purchased in conjunction with groceries, irrigation supplies and deer repellant and placed in the back of his 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

The Drug Enforcement Agency decided to study Pineda-Moreno more closely, placing GPS tracking devices on his vehicle. The devices, about the size of a bar of soap, were placed on the underside of his vehicle on seven different occasions -- four times while parked on the street outside of his residence, once in a public parking lot and twice while parked in his driveway. Reports indicate that police placed the devices on his vehicle between 4:00 and 5:00 AM in the mornings.

While tracking his vehicle, officials recognized Pineda-Moreno's car was leaving a commonly known marijuana growing location. They located his Jeep, pulled him over and noted the smell of marijuana coming from his car. All three people in the car were placed under arrest and when officials searched Pineda-Moreno's trailer, they found two large garbage bags full of weed.

What's undisputed is that Pineda-Moreno was in possession of marijuana. But should the manner in which police tracked him get called into question? While Pineda-Moreno lost this recent appeal, expect him to take it to a higher court (the U.S. Supreme Court) in the coming year.

What??? Here I was thinking Oregon was a compassionate and free state. Wow. They found two large garbage bags full of weed. Big deal. Like it was some dangerous substance. Gimme a break. This is intolerable. Folks, we ain't outta the woods, yet. Until these laws are changed, people like this poor guy are gonna fill our jails. What if you're a Caregiver? What do you do, then?

Damn police. Ain't got enough to do, except chase marijuana growers. Sheesh! Big bad cops. Utterly disgusting. And ya wonder why Law Enforcement is hated by so many. You needed to see this. :mad:

OK I get the cops running around with the tracking stuff is bullshit, But the state has set the guidlines on what we can grow if this guy was over and didnt have his ommp card thats to bad. So the loop hole comes into play...I hope he can get out of it, but the shit he's pulling is whats making it hard for people that stay with in the law looked down on.
If ya can have 6 thats it..I would love to have 100 at a time but if I do I'm fucked! I know that so should he.
I think theres 10,000 other things the cops could be doing with there time other than chasing around a guy with a bag of weed or tracking his car! I feel that is so fucked up and how in the hell can they get away with doing that anyway?
I just think if it smells like shit.....it is.

The Fact that Home Depo would rat him out is scary. I didn't know they could tell a grower by his purchaces.

As for the tracker, if they can leave it on your car in a public place. They will have problems with the invasion of private property. They could have easily tailed him, legaly.

Otherwise the bust was good. You have no rights in your car. Plus it sounds like he wasn't growing on his own property, and he was pushing the envelope and growing too much.

Sure it sucks to be him. But he was breaking the law.