La Pine-area couple cited after drug raid turns up large dismantled marijuana grow, butane honey oil and a handgun

La PINE, Ore. (KTVZ) – A drug raid on a La Pine-area couple's property found a dismantled large marijuana grow in their shop, authorities said Thursday. They were cited on felony drug charges and being felons in possession of a firearm.

Around 9 a.m. Wednesday, detectives with the Deschutes County Illegal Marijuana Market Enforcement team, assisted by the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement (CODE) team, executed a search warrant in the 15000 block of Park Drive, sheriff's Lieutenant Mike Landolt said.

"This search warrant was the result of an investigation involving the illegal manufacture and distribution of illegal marijuana," Landolt said in a news release. 

During the search warrant, detectives contacted the 65-year-old woman and 54-year-old man, who Landolt said were being investigated for various crimes. 

Detectives found a dismantled large-scale marijuana grow in a shop on the property. The search yielded nearly 18 pounds of processed marijuana flower and almost 1,000 grams of suspected Butane Honey Oil (BHO).

The detectives "located evidence consistent with the distribution of marijuana and BHO, as the quantities were much larger than personal-use amounts," Landolt said. 

Detectives also found a handgun, he said, noting that the couple both "have an extensive criminal history preventing them from (legally) possessing a firearm). 

The pair were released at the scene, with criminal citations to appear in circuit court. Both face Class C felony charges of illegal marijuana possession and cannabinoid extracts, as well as felon in possession of a firearm and Class A misdemeanor charges of attempted marijuana manufacture.

Asked why they were cited and released at the scene, Landolt told KTVZ News the couple “would not have been held at the jail, it would have been a ‘book and release,’ so we simply cited them instead.”

KTVZ News policy is not to name arrested individuals until formal charges are filed.

CODE Detectives and the DCIMME team were assisted by the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office during the investigation, Landolt said.

"DCIMME would like to thank the following agencies for their assistance with this investigation: Deschutes County Community Action Target Team Division, Central Oregon Drug Enforcement (CODE), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Deschutes County District Attorney's Office, Deschutes County Code Enforcement and Oregon Water Resources," Landolt said.

The Central Oregon Drug Enforcement (CODE) team is a multi-jurisdictional narcotics task force supported by the Oregon-Idaho High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program and the following Central Oregon law enforcement agencies:  Bend Police Department, Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, Redmond Police Department,  Prineville Police Department, Crook County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Madras Police Department, Oregon State Police, Sunriver Police Department, Black Butte Police Department, United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Warm Springs Tribal Police Department, Deschutes, Crook, and Jefferson County District Attorney’s, and the Oregon National Guard.

The Oregon-Idaho HIDTA program is an Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) sponsored counterdrug grant program that coordinates and provides funding resources to multi-agency drug enforcement task forces to disrupt or dismantle local, multi-state and international drug trafficking organizations.