PORT ANGELES — Signs advertising Deer Park Self Storage in east Port Angeles as a drug-sniffing dog training facility apparently did not deter a tenant from stashing marijuana in a recently rented storage unit.
Clallam County sheriff’s deputies and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents investigated Sunday after getting a report from management of a storage unit possibly being used to store illegal drugs, Detective Sgt. Jason Viada said.
Officers obtained and executed a search warrant Sunday afternoon and seized marijuana.
Viada declined to say exactly how much was found because the investigation is continuing.
“I would describe it as a substantial quantity of marijuana,” Viada said.
“The people who operate the storage facility became aware of suspicious activity and called law enforcement right away.”
Viada said the unit was used for storage rather than a grow operation.
Drug-sniffing dogs
Officers used drug-sniffing dogs during the investigation Sunday.
Sheriff’s deputies have identified several “person of interests.”
Viada declined to provide the name of the individual renting the storage unit.
Deer Park Self Storage owner James Ciaciuch said the storage unit in question was one of the smaller ones the company rents.
Smaller ones
Deer Park Self Storage rents units ranging from 25 square feet to 300 square feet.
Ciaciuch said the management of Deer Park Self Storage, located at 132 Deer Park Road in east Port Angeles, called police when they noticed one of their new tenants acting suspiciously.
He said Deer Park management staff are trained to recognize certain circumstances that might betray illegal behavior.
The self-storage business also has been an active training facility for local law enforcement’s drug-sniffing dogs since it opened in mid-2007, Ciaciuch said.
“We offered it to law enforcement [as a training facility], and they jumped on it right away,” Ciaciuch said.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
