A Parkmerced resident was arrested by an undercover University Police Officer for possessing six ounces of marijuana.

The drug bust occurred early last month and was the biggest one yet this semester.

According to University Spokeswoman Ellen Griffin the undercover officer had correspondence with the 21 year-old male suspect for about three days and had arranged to buy one ounce of marijuana from him. Upon going to his apartment the individual confessed to having six ounces of marijuana from Humboldt County. The officer subsequently proceeded by arresting the individual.

The UPD arrest log cites Dane Johnson as being charged with two violations of the health and safety code, HS 11359 and HS11360. Both are felonies.

The California penal code defines the first charge as "Every person who possesses for sale any marijuana, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison."

The second is defined as, "Every person who transports, imports into this state, sells, furnishes, administers, or gives away, or offers to transport, import into this state, sell, furnish, administer, or give away, or attempts to import into this state or transport any marijuana shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a period of two, three or four years."

Connie Chan of the San Francisco District Attorney's Office was able to confirm that Johnson is being charged with two felony counts of drug charges. If convicted for the attempted sale to the undercover officer he could face up to four years in prison.

According to UPD an ounce of marijuana can sell for anywhere between $300-500 depending on the type.

Captain Reggie Parson said they were able to confirm that the accused sold to the SF State community, but were not able to determine how prominent he was.

The investigation unit of UPD conducts these kind of operations periodically. Though Parson did not comment on how they learned about this particular suspect, he commented that UPD checks online, prior marijuana arrest records, through community members and from the hot-tip line.

"The Investigations Unit is continually working to provide a safe community to the students. This involves working to decrease the drugs being sold on/around campus, identifying potential theft rings and setting up robbery suppressions to arrest suspects in the act of committing the crimes," Parson said.

Police Chief Kirk Gaston emphasized the importance of having these sorts of operations.

"Sting operations are an effective way to deal with situations like this that come to our attention," Gaston said. "Other serious crimes can be associated with drug sales."

This is the second reported incident of marijuana sales in the past 90 days and the third one this semester, according to the UPD crime log.