Marijuana evidence goes up in smoke

Police destroyed over one and half tons of illegal marijuana plants because there was no where to store them — and thereby let the evidence against outlaw growers go up in smoke.

Defense attorneys for three men charged with cultivating the plants claim they were not given access to the material before it was destroyed as required by law, possibly invalidating its use as evidence, the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Thursday.

The case began several months ago when Yaakov Saluk, 53, of Rishon Lezion, rented out agricultural land in central Israel ostensibly to grow lettuce. However, after erecting four-meter high barriers around the plot, he allegedly set about growing valuable weed instead. Police were tipped off about the operation and used a helicopter to find the exact location of the field.

An ambush was set up and in September cops swooped in to arrest Saluk and two others as they were in the act of harvesting their produce to sell to market. Police found hundreds of plants at the site along with 34 bags filled with marijuana. In total there were some 1.6 tons of marijuana ready to sell, too much for cops to store. After separating off three kilograms to be kept as evidence police asked the courts for permission to burn the rest of the haul, even though they had not yet served an indictment or given defense attorneys a chance to examine the evidence.

With most of the incriminating material now blowing in the wind the defense team moved to have their clients released. Authorities have not yet made a decision on the matter.

Prosecutors declined to discuss the details of the mishap and said that it would be reviewed along with all other material for the case.