Multiple marijuana businesses being raided by DEA, IRS, Denver cops

[Bennyboy]

Source: westworld

Update below: Westword has learned that the federal Drug Enforcement Administration is conducting raids at this writing at multiple marijuana businesses in the Denver area.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver has issued a statement confirming the ongoing operation, which is being conducted by the DEA in collaboration with the Internal Revenue Service and the Denver Police Department. Our sources tell us it's likely to continue throughout the day and involves a notable number of targets.

The statement -- issued by Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for U.S. Attorney John Walsh, who's been designated to speak for the assorted agencies involved -- is shy of details. Moreover, Dorschner declines to elaborate on it.

Read more: http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2013/11/marijuana_raids_colorado_dea_irs_denver_police.php

[SoCalMusicLover]

1. And So It Continues....

Hopey Changey.

I'm looking forward to more of the same under the next administration. Whomever leads it.

[randome]

18. Without even knowing the details?

If you have a marijuana business, that means you get something like 'diplomatic immunity'?

Until we know why this occurred, it's premature to assume anything. My guess is that since Denver cops were in on it, these businesses were breaking other laws.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]TECT in the name of the Representative approves of this post.[/center][/font][hr]

[tblue37]

54. One article I read said one of the Denver pot stores was a

front for an international criminal who had been under investigation as a jewel thief, fence, and murderer. He got federal agents who were masquerading as criminals themselves into his pot operation by bringing it up himself because he wanted them to pick up 20lbs of pot from his Denver place and transport it to states where pot is still illegal.

That case at least sounds to me like an extension of their case against a real criminal, not a decision by feds to harass innocent legal pot dispensaries. Maybe other raids have similar circumstances. But if so, the DoJ needs to publicize it more--unless they worry about screwing up ongoing investigations by providing too much info.

On Edit: geologic has posted a link to the article. See below.

[randome]

55. Yes, keeping us informed would go a long way toward stopping baseless speculations.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font][hr]

[billhicks76]

33. Obama!!!!!!!!

Bush fired US Attorneys he didn't support. Obviously Obama supports this. Makes me want to vomit.

[GoneFishin]

34. Yep. Different from Republicans only on social issues, and only those social issues that do not

affect corporate profits. He's a die-hard corporatist, that's why it's happening.

[DeSwiss]

2. Whomever approved this, KMA. - K&R n/t

[Stardust]

3. Wait! Whut???? Didn't Colorado recently legalize MJ???? nt

[bobclark86]

5. Wait! Whut? Isn't it still a federal crime???? nt

[ForgoTheConsequence]

11. Oof

In December, Obama told Barbara Walters of ABC News that recreational marijuana use in states that have legalized the drug was not a major concern.

“We’ve got bigger fish to fry,” he said.


http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-08-29/national/41566270_1_marijuana-legalization-attorney-general-bob-ferguson-obama-administration




I guess he ran out of fish, time to go after the important stuff like weed.

[closeupready]

12. Wait! Whut? Isn't there still lots of $$$ for the DEA if they bust these operations?

[KamaAina]

16. Wait! Whut? Aren't Denver cops in on this????

[DeSwiss]

19. Wait! Whut? Maybe it's just another goddamned lie from this administration.

Last edited Thu Nov 21, 2013, 05:29 PM - Edit history (1)

Eric Holder Says DOJ Will Let Washington, Colorado Marijuana Laws Go Into Effect

- I'm not surprised though. Lying-ass pieces of shit tend to lie.......

[frylock]

31. derp! derp?

[Gore1FL]

44. In state for adults.

Based on locals and federal authorities being involved, I suspect there is more to the story.

[Jesus Malverde]

4. Waste of money and time...nt

[Scuba]

6. So Holder and his boss let Wall Street criminals walk, but arrest state-licensed weed vendors?

Shameful on both their parts, particularly the boss who admitted smoking dope.

[CrispyQ]

9. Pot, the gateway drug -

the gateway into the private, for profit, prison system.

[geologic]

30. > , but arrest state-licensed weed vendors?

Word from some legit Denver-area growers is--
these folks being hassled are not "state-licensed"...

[GoneFishin]

35. Word? n/t

[geologic]

50. telephone--

...

[geologic]

53. http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024073560

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024073560

[Blue Owl]

7. WTF this shit again?

[Jackpine Radical]

8. Thereby proving that the word of the DOJ isn't worth

the used toilet paper it was written on.

[beerandjesus]

10. This is so Obama....

Just when I'm feeling really good about him and the Democratic party for getting their judges on the DC Circuit, he goes and does this.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

13. This operation includes the IRS.

Are these businesses not paying their fair share of taxes?

I know that it is still illegal at the federal level, but have always wondered if the states should pass a law against the use of local police forces for DEA operations involving State sanctioned recreational drugs. The current situation creates a catch 22.

[closeupready]

15. If they are evading taxes, that's another matter.

But if it's simply a money-grabbing move from the DEA and local law enforcement, then color me unsurprised.

[Wilms]

14. They should deploy Secret Service to protect the banksters.

We REALLY need to go out of our way to serve them.

[villager]

17. More appalling betrayal by this administration, and the President who heads it

n/t

[Plucketeer]

23. I couldn't agree MORE!

Will the REAL Democratic president please proceed to the Oval Office!

[SoLeftIAmRight]

20. There are bad players in this game.

I hope the people that will not follow the rules are taken down.

My thought about the biggest problem is the heavy use of things to keep pest at bay.
Doubt that this is what they are looking to stop.

It has been the DEA's history to go after the activist.
Again, I hope they go after the rule breakers.

[QC]

21. Hopetastic! n/t

[villager]

46. to say nothing of "changealicious!"

n/t

[QC]

47. Changetastic *and* hope-a-licious!

Is anyone really surprised by this? Honestly, anyone with two functioning neurons or more should have known not to believe Holder when he said he would respect state laws on this issue.

[Comrade Grumpy]

22. Where's that guy who always claims there aren't any raids in Colorado...

...because unlike California, they play by the rules there?

[WowSeriously]

24. How is it that Denver law enforcement is involved when MJ is legal in Colorado?

[randome]

25. Let's speculate, shall we? Maybe they were breaking laws?

Allegedly.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]TECT in the name of the Representative approves of this post.[/center][/font][hr]

[theaocp]

26. You may be right.

However, speculation goes both ways. Perhaps they've got a sweetheart deal with the DEA slime for goodies in exchange for cooperation. Ultimately, tho, it's just a waste of resources and misplaced priorities by corrupt thugs that like to bully people. Fuck narcs.

[mwrguy]

27. Keep kicking that football, Charlie Brown.

After recreational marijuana initiatives passed in Washington and Colorado in November, President Barack Obama said the federal government had “bigger fish to fry” and would not make going after marijuana a priority.

PSYCH!

[Bennyboy]

39. Right lets see as to those and the Taxation situation....

But, with taxation, that is catch 22 because you can't file taxes a a pot business.

[Gore1FL]

45. If you live in Colorado you can. n/t

[marsis]

29. Yea for Obama

going after the real criminals.....cough, I would expect no less from this regime. The bankers and Wallstreet-ers are free so at least we've got that going for us.

However correct me if I am wrong. Originally due to conflicts with the Constitution and other rights, hemp was outlawed through the IRS. Somehow they couldn't actually make it illegal so they passed the stamp act which didn't outlaw the plant. So one could purchase a stamp which would allow them to grow hemp, the only problem being you couldn't purchase a stamp.

If anyone has a better handle on this please post. If what is being reported across the globe, that MJ fights cancer, along with it's uses as other medicines, foods, textiles, fuel, lubrication, paper pulp, etc. wouldn't it be a crime against humanity to outlaw it?

All that hopey stuff is toast.

[olddad56]

32. I guess you just can't really legalize freedom in a police state.

[Bennyboy]

36. MORE HERE:

Seven weeks before the nation's first retail marijuana shops open in Colorado, federal authorities Thursday morning raided more than a dozen Denver metro area marijuana facilities.

In the largest federal raid on Colorado marijuana facilities since medical marijuana became legal, federal law enforcement agents with an assist from local police officers executed search and seizure warrants at multiple dispensaries and cultivation facilities throughout the region — at least a dozen in Denver alone.

At one raid in Boulder, a pile of seized marijuana lay in the snow like Christmas trees until a front-end loader scooped it up.

At one of the largest dispensaries in the state — VIP Cannabis in Denver — broken glass from a shattered front window littered the parking lot while masked agents hauled boxes of evidence into a U-Haul truck. Police turned customers away. And the dispensary's website said it would be closed on Thursday and Friday.

Read more: Feds raid Denver-area marijuana dispensaries and grow operations - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_24570937/feds-involved-raid-at-denver-area-marijuana#ixzz2lK9MXOOl
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse
Follow us: @Denverpost on Twitter | Denverpost on Facebook



http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_24570937/feds-involved-raid-at-denver-area-marijuana

[locks]

37. This is crazy stuff (just on local tv)

especially in Boulder where I've lived for a long time. I can't remember ever hearing about anybody dying or even being hurt by using marijuana but weekly we have many scary auto and cycle accidents with deaths and injuries caused by alcohol. Hit and run, as well as convicted drunks back behind the wheel. And by mixing guns and alcohol.
Every week a new "craft brewery" open ups with lots of fanfare, fun and reviews in the paper and on tv. CU is still a top party school, beer is the drug of choice with football. Wouldn't you think the DEA, IRS, police departments, and our governor would spend their time better protecting our kids and all of us from the sad effects of alcohol instead of spending our money "raiding" marijuana businesses?

[Bennyboy]

38. 7 News.....

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/federal-agents-raid-multiple-marijuana-facilities-around-denver-and-boulder

the Denver Channel...

[randome]

42. Break the law, expect to be called to account for it.

Mason Tvert, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, said it is clear the raids are not the federal government cracking down on Colorado's budding marijuana industry.

"This really has nothing to do with Amendment 64 or the whole medical marijuana system," said Tvert. "It might basically be a matter of a few businesses being investigated because they were suspected of being involved in some sort of activity not in compliance with state law."

[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[Comrade Grumpy]

43. I think Mr. Tvert is weaseling here. He is clearly speculating, but...

...why would the US Attorney's Office and the DEA be enforcing state laws?

We will have to see what the feds claim. They haven't said much yet.

[randome]

49. Unfortunately, they rarely say much after the fact so everyone simply speculates.

And that's not right. We should know what's going on and why it's happening.
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[questionseverything]

51. property seized,no arrests

I am so old I remember a time when a person had to be convicted to be punished ,now they do not even have to be arrested

[blkmusclmachine]

40. Steal a Billion, get a Bailout. Get some medical marijuana, go to Jail for 10 years. Fair & balanced

[Festivito]

41. Good target for sequestered funding. eom.

[Sunlei]

48. no details? probably they sting one person and then split the business' cash /w local police.

asset seizure for 'drug bust' is extremely lucrative for local police and Feds. As new businesses open, they can do the same thing.

[fredamae]

52. While I Completley Disagree

with Cannabis Prohibition..
There is one thing we might have forgotten...

Investigations at times go on for Years before action is taken.
I highly doubt the Feds (or Any LEO) would Ever drop an investigation because state laws change.

Without details, it's hard to determine how these raids happened and whether they violated state laws post legalization.

In Oregon during the 2013 debate on HB 3460--(allows medical marijuana facilities/dispensaries)-one of the complaints from local LEO was that they were Worried they might lose the opportunity to proceed with and prosecute on active investigations.
Of course "they" were preserved.
I believe all of this--regardless of Why-is pure fiscal waste that does Nothing to secure - but rather Harms - public safety and society in general.