Mass Federal Raids on Colorado Pot Hint at a Crackdown Pattern

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/drugs/mass-federal-raids-colorado-pot-hint-crackdown-pattern



The coordinated raids of at least a dozen Denver dispensaries on Thursday are the latest federal law enforcement actions to occur in the wake of legalization votes last November in Colorado and Washington states. The coordinated raids in Colorado follow raids that took place in Washingon this summer, and when analyzed side by side, the federal actions hint at an emerging pattern in organized pot crackdowns. Characterized by cooperation across multiple levels of government and timed to deliver maximum political effect, this new method of federal interference with the medical marijuana movement sends a clear message to a marijuana industry still in its formation stages.

Consider a coordinated sweep conducted in the Puget Sound region of Washington state in July of this year. Conveniently timed to coincide with deliberations of the state Liquor Control Board to determine the body's new rules to govern the state's legal retail marijuana industry, the raids targeted four dispensaries around the Sound, including one in the state capital of Olympia.

The Department of Justice (DOJ), in a terse press release, revealed no specific details of the intent behind the Colorado raids except to claim that they comported with the guidelines of the August 29th prosecution memorandum authored by Deputy Attorney General James Cole. That memo advised US Attorneys not to prosecute cannabis businesses in compliance with state law unless they violated one or more of eight internal DOJ guidelines, including prohibitions against sale of cannabis to minors and diversion of marijuana to the illicit market.

It remains to be seen whether any of the dispensaries raided on Thursday violated any of the Cole memo's guidelines. But even if they did, one cannot dismiss the possibility that the pattern of recent raids conducted in Washington and now Colorado reveal a calculated plan to shape the legal cannabis market to come.

[Fumesucker]

1. If only somehow we could get word to President Obama that these things are happening

I'm sure he would speak out about them.

[xchrom]

2. he'd give a speech! nt

[frylock]

9. the obama administration supports medical marijuana..

or so I've read, repeatedly, here on this very website.

[Laelth]

3. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[okaawhatever]

4. Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit. The truth is: the gov't didn't even go after the medical marijuana

businesses. They investigated an international jewel thief/fence/money launderer. From the Miami Herald:
Still, according to the June 7 arrest form, Guardarrama told the undercover cops that he grows marijuana in two Colorado warehouses.

Apparently feeling at ease, Guardarrama showed the agents a live video feed of the marijuana grows from a Nanny Cam linked to his cellphone.

Then, he asked them “to travel to Colorado and pick up 20 pounds of marijuana a month to be distributed in Miami-Dade County,” according to the arrest form.

The undercover cops didn’t expect the negotiations about stolen diamonds to take this turn. Authorities say the solicitation to kill Guardarrama’s partner was another surprise.
SNIP

About two years ago, as law enforcement closed in on more than a dozen thieves involved in the operation, Guardarrama skipped town. Jewelers at the Seybold building commented about his sudden absence.

He had moved to a luxury apartment in Denver with his girlfriend. According to authorities in Colorado, Guardarrama obtained a license to work in the state’s medical marijuana industry. However, he is not registered as an owner of such a business.

From another Miami Herald article as to Juan Guardarrama's background. BTW he calls himself Tony Montana, like in Scarface.
His first run-in with police was a disorderly intoxication arrest in 1990. A year later, he was arrested and later convicted after a road-rage incident on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach. According to court records, Guardarrama got out of his car and threatened the other driver with a semiautomatic pistol.

In 1994, he was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol. Three years later, he was arrested and convicted of assault, extortion and illegal bookmaking. Records show Guardarrama had threatened to kill a man who owed $13,500 in gambling debts outside a Mexican restaurant in Sweetwater.

Also, the business partner he tried to have killed attempted to burn their grow houses down in 2012. Either for insurance fraud, to hide the fact that they were selling it out of state, or both. The business partner is listed in the warrant along with Guardarrama and others.

A copy of the warrant can be found on ScribD. I posted a link earlier.

You have to wonder if it isn't a right winger publishing b.s. like this article in Alternet to make the administration look bad. Clearly this is a drug trafficking organization with ties to some really, really bad people. You have to wonder why y'all are falling it for it so easily.

[frylock]

10. so was anyone arrested?

[okaawhatever]

11. No. Current reports state no arrests were made. nt

[frylock]

13. and you don't find that at all odd or concerning?

surely, if what you posted is the reason for the raids, someone would be in custody, or cited, or something, no?

[xchrom]

5. ‘No explanation’ for federal raid on Denver-area pot dealers

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/21/no-explanation-for-federal-raid-on-denver-area-pot-dealers/



Federal officials raided more than a dozen marijuana dispensaries in Colorado, with some of the targeted outlets saying they were left in the dark as to the reasons why.

The Denver Post reported that no arrests were carried out in the raids, which were carried out by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

“They took $1 million worth of plants from his facility,” attorney James Wollrab told the Post following the raid on Swiss Medical in nearby Boulder. “They didn’t leave any instructions, saying don’t replant. There was no court order of cease and desist. No explanation.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice told the Post via email that the seizures complied with federal authorities’ pledge to respect the state’s newly-passed law legalizing medical marijuana sales except in cases involving, among other factors, marijuana possession on federal property; distributing the drug to minors, using marijuana sales revenue for criminal purposes and shipping the drug from states where it is legalized to other states.

[msanthrope]

12. No explanation? There's an explanation on the Warrant. nt

[Trillo]

6. Oh, I've been assurred by DUers that the marijuana issue is a mere trifle.

That to even think its an important issue is Just Plain Stupid!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024059051

[RandiFan1290]

7. Maybe the Choom Gang wants to dilute the competition?

Need the right people in place to start making the big $$$

[B Calm]

8. Is the Department of Justice in partnership with the Mexican Drug Cartel?