A traffic stop turned into something much larger in Murrieta earlier this week.
Murrieta Police said they pulled a "large moving truck" over at the intersection of Menifee Road and Poinsettia Street around 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 1. A canine unit detected narcotics, and officers searched the truck and found fertilizer, soil, marijuana plants, marijuana seeds and processed marijuana.
The traffic stop led police to search a home in the 33900 block of Petunia Street in Murrieta. There, the found a growing operation and seized over 300 marijuana plants, hydroponic growing equipment, processed bagged marijuana and devices apparently used for the weighing, processing and selling of marijuana.
Two San Diego men, 19 and 24, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit a felony and cultivation of marijuana.
As we've observed before, marijuana lives in something of a gray space in criminal law. Certain uses are legal in certain states (including California), but it remains illegal at the federal level. Such a confusing patchwork of applicable laws can leave people who thought they were abiding by the law in the lurch.
As criminal defense attorneys, we often help clients after they have been charged with marijuana-related offenses. From our office near the Southwest Justice Center, we assist clients from Lake Elsinore, Perris, Banning, Wildomar, Menifee, Hemet, Corona, Winchester, Murrieta, Temecula and other Riverside County communities.
If you are in trouble with the law and think you need to speak to a criminal defense attorney, please feel free to contact us. We can help.