US investigating ties between Colorado marijuana dispensaries and Colombia DTOs

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Colombia Reports

US investigating ties between Colorado marijuana dispensaries and Colombia DTOs
Feb 18, 2014 posted by Connor Paige

Several Colombian nationals who own marijuana dispensaries in the US state of Colorado are under investigation into whether their marijuana buisness’ are being illegally funded by Colombian drug trafficking organizations.

Gerado Uribe and several members of his family are among a dozen people currently under investigation for illegal production and distribution of marijuana and laundering money to fund five marijuana dispensaries and six grow houses run by the family and its associates. On November 21 last year, a total of 14 businesses and two homes were raided by Federal agents in the Denver metropolitan area, says the Denver Post.

One of these houses was owned by an associate, Hector Diaz, who reportedly wired over $400,000 from a bank in Colombia to the United States.

According to the Denver Post, he told authorities he intended to use the money to buy a warehouse where he would start a business making coiled barbed wire. The newspaper says that that federal agents have not found any proof to back up these claims, and there is suspicion that these funds may be connected to a “shadow investor” in Colombia.


Read more: http://colombiareports.co/us-feds-investigating-connections-marijuana-dispensaries-cartels/

[randr]

1. Legalize It, dont Corporatize IT

[SkyDaddy7]

7. If you honestly think...

Marijuana can be legalized while never becoming "corporatized" then you are going to be in for a HUGE disappointment!!

Within 10yrs of legalization corporations will dominate the industry.

[randr]

8. That is a legitimate concern

However, it will be regulated as is the alcohol industry. A black market will be created for higher potency designer crops grown organically. A market for this exists today for the very wealthy and will expand as legal restrictions are removed.
You are probably right that large corporations, be it tobacco or alcohol, will be the predominant sources.
In ten years the phrase "this buds for you" will take on a new and powerful commercial meaning.
What will be interesting is to see if consumer cultivation is going to still be allowed.

[happyslug]

9. If you sold Marijuna through state owned stores, Corporations would not.

Thus the sale of Hard Liquor in Pennsylvania, a state that maintains on Monopoly of such sales, it is the STATE not Corporations that control the sale of Alcohol (Pennsylvania is also the single largest purchaser of non-beer alcohol in the World).

Now, people complain about the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Broad (PLCB), but when you look at the complaints you quickly see they are people complaining about the high prices (Pennsylvania has one of the highest taxes in liquor in the World) or a lack of "Selection". Once you look at neighboring states, you will find the same liquor in the State Stores as you do in private Stores in neighboring states. People complain that they can not buy directly from a seller out of state, for one of the duties of the State Stores is to collect the state tax on alcohol, and that is done by making sure all alcohol is sold via the State Stores.

I suspect most of these complaints fall into two categories, people who would complain even if the stores were owned by private Companies,. for they are some people who are NEVER happy, and people who want to buy the liquor stores to make money and thus complain about them )and spread other people's complaints) to further that agenda (and I see a lot of people who see these liquor stores are a high profit market to get into).

Now, one of the "Problems" with state owned drug dispersal stores (For that is all the Pennsylvania State Stores are) is that they are manned by Civil Servants not at will employees. I.e. they can only be fired for CAUSE, not at will, and they pay can not be cut, except for cause. Thus they have no incentive to sell alcohol other then what is legal to sell. Think about it, do you want these legal drugs (for that is what Alcohol is) sold by a Civil Servant whose pay is NOT dependent on that sale, or some minimum wage employee, whose pay is directly affected by that sale?

In most markets, you want the person whose income is dependent on the sale to do the selling, but do you want that in regards to the sale of legal drugs? I am of the opinion the answer should be NO, anyone who is selling legal drugs for recreational are better being Civil Servants then at will employees. That system is working in Pennsylvania when it comes to the sale of Alcohol, and I see it as the preferred way to sale marijuana in those states that permit the sale of marijuana.

[reddread]

2. Sounds like a Promised Land operation

those clever guys.

[marble falls]

3. Legalize it, cut corporate profiteering. Legal companies or not they are all gangsters.

[quakerboy]

4. And that is different from

Fox, BP, Lucky Strike, Las Vegas Sands, etc how? Dirty money is only ok when its established dirty money now? Why do they want to penalize the cartels for success?

[RainDog]

5. Not surprised to see this

I don't know anything about his case, but I expect there will be a lot of scrutiny - and, just as important, I would imagine the AG office wants to have some "show" cases to indicate they've not given up their right to prosecute - and to show they will. Again, regardless of the merits or not in this case.

[tofuandbeer]

6. Not directly related, but I'll bet GMO marijuana seeds are being created by YKWho.