Four indicted in $1-million pot bust

The suspects are a pair from Clearwater, a Howey-in-the-Hills man and a Mexican.

By AMELIA DAVIS

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 4, 2000

CLEARWATER -- A federal grand jury has indicted two Clearwater residents, charging them with possession of marijuana worth more than $1-million that the grand jury believes they intended to sell.

Richard Hammons, 53, who lived at 11 Heilwood St., Clearwater Beach, at the time of his arrest in February, and his sister, Faye Bakke, 54, of 1511 Cleveland St., Clearwater, were charged last week in U.S. district court in Tampa.

Hammons, whose extensive criminal record dates to 1965, is in jail awaiting trial on other charges. He lists his occupation as "self-employed" on arrest records.

Bakke was released Friday on a $25,000 signature bond. A hair dresser, Bakke also has a lengthy arrest record including charges for aggravated assault and fraud.

Also indicted in the same case were Abel Hisham Hamden-Salinas of Mexico and Alejandro Tamayos-Ramos of Howey-in-the-Hills. They, too, are charged with marijuana possession.

According to an affidavit drafted by Drug Enforcement Administration agent Adrian Chindgren, DEA agents, Coast Guard officers and deputies with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office arrested Hammons in Clearwater on Feb. 28 as he tried to sell 500 pounds of marijuana to two confidential sources.

Hammons, who agreed to cooperate with the arresting officers, led them to Bakke where additional marijuana was discovered, authorities reported. Hammons then told officers Tamayos-Ramos was his supplier, Chindgren said.

Tamayos-Ramos and Hamden-Salinas were arrested March 1 at Hammons' apartment. According to the affidavit, Hamden-Salinas told officers he was in town to buy a television set and take it back to Guadalajara, Mexico. The TV, which Hamden-Salinas bought at a Service Merchandise at a Brandon mall, was to be packed with money that Hammons owed, he told officers.

Sheriff's investigators declined to discuss the case Monday. Spokeswoman Marianne Pasha said much of the marijuana imported to Pinellas County recently "is coming over land from Mexico.'

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