According to an intriguing item from the local sheriff's blotter in today's San Clemente Patch, an anonymous tipster phoned deputies to say that a 55-year-old man was busy loading bales of marijuana into the back of his car. The caller described the vehicle as a white Nissan and stated that there were two other men sitting in the car.
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The call took place at about 1 a.m., but by the time deputies arrived at the 600 block of Avenida Pico, the car and its occupants were gone. No word yet on what model Nissan the men were driving, which might give some indication as to how many bales might have been transported, nor do we yet know how the informant knew the man loading them was 55 years old, or even how the caller was certain the bales contained marijuana.
However, given the late-night timing of the incident and the apparent recent increase of cross-border marijuana traffic involving yachts and sailboats hauling bales of marijuana from Mexico to places like Dana Point and Newport Beach, it seems possible that Johnny Law might have narrowly missed capturing cargo that had just been offloaded from one such smuggling venture.
Better luck next time, deputies!
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Award-winning investigative journalist Nick Schou is Editor of OC Weekly. He is the author of Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb (Nation Books 2006), which provided the basis for the 2014 Focus Features release starring Jeremy Renner and the L.A. Times-bestseller Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love’s Quest to bring Peace, Love and Acid to the World, (Thomas Dunne 2009). He is also the author of The Weed Runners (2013) and Spooked: How the CIA Manipulates the Media and Hoodwinks Hollywood (2016).