6/18/09 Deschutes County
 
by Ariel Wesler
 
The three drug busts happened on Tuesday and Wednesday, but officers found more than just drugs.  While the suspects are now in custody, neighbors are unsettled these crimes could happen right under their nose.
 
Three drug busts, five arrests and one busy week for Central Oregon's Drug Enforcement Team.  Wednesday night, near La Pine, code detectives seize more than two hundred marijuana plants growing inside a barn, where the residents also lived.  Officers find eleven firearms inside, including two shot guns and an AK-47.  Target practice could often be heard throughout the neighborhood.
 
"Their dad had problems with guns in years past and i thought they would have learned from that," said Jeff Loudermilk, a neighbor.
 
Three people in their mid-20s are arrested--one by force.  Neighbors say they were friendly, but mostly kept to themselves."They did not want other people going far in on their property," Loudermilk said.
 
Earlier that morning, CODE detectives search this house on woodland avenue in southeast Bend.  A neighbor wakes up to find several police officers shuffling next door.  "There were undercover cops it looked like inside and they all had gloves on and they were taking stuff out in bags and they were being very hush hush," said Derick Fitzgerald.
 
An illegal medical grow-not registered with the state.
 
These windows lead to the basement where officer say they found 48 marijuana plants but what they discovered in the kitchen was even more shocking.
 
A possible home-made explosive device.  It's safely removed and a 45-year old man is sent to jail.
 
"Everybody's got kids and that makes me nervous for our whole neighborhood," Fitzgerald said.
 
He says the house has a track record, but nothing like this.  Previous tenants threw loud parties to all hours of night, but this tenant was quiet.  He now realizes why.
 
On Baker Road in Bend officers seize more than four pounds of marijuana Tuesday as well as other items linked to a grow operation.  A 28-year old man is arrested.  The suspects in all three cases face illegal drug charges.