DEA-search followup: Warrant returns; U.S. Attorney’s update

A few more follow-ups today, three days after the Drug Enforcement Administration searched more than a dozen medical-marijuana operations around Puget Sound, including GAME Collective, owned by a West Seattle man, with a location in West Seattle and a “lounge” in White Center. Last night, Thomas Bates from the U.S. Attorney’s Office was at the South Delridge-White Center Community Safety Coalition meeting. He said the regional operation mostly targeted medical-marijuana businesses “with multiple locations” that were suspected of “large-volume drug sales, money-laundering, and other operations.” While he did not address GAME Collective directly, he did mention that the “returns” from the search warrants had started to come in – those are the official documents showing what, if anything, law-enforcement officers found when they conducted the searches for which they had warrants We obtained the first two returns this afternoon. They are for two vehicles – one belonging to the GAME Collective’s owner, and one belonging to another West Seattle man listed in the original search-warrant documents as being associated with GAME. Though the search warrant empowers agents to seize anything found in a broad range of items listed, from drugs to money to recordkeeping books, the search warrant return for the 2007 Mercedes belonging to GAME Collctive’s owner says “no items seized.” For the other man’s 2010 Subaru Outback, the return document lists items seized as:

*318 grams of marijuana
*41 grams of hashish
*Toshiba laptop
*Medical marijuana patient certificate for the car’s owner
*An AT&T bill
*Photocopies of his “medical marijuana card” and driver’s license
*Receipt for “1/4# Lemon Kush” and “1/4# Woody Kush” with the notations “on consignment 11/3/11 due by 11/17/11” and “Come in 2 weeks”

The documents say the owner’s car was searched at noon on Tuesday, while the other man’s car was seized at 1 pm Tuesday. Last night Bates also stressed that the facilities that were searched had not been shut down, and that no charges had been filed. The only person arrested – NOT in connection with the West Seattle/White Center searches – was someone who was under court supervision in connection with another case, Bates explained. Regarding the entire regional operation, he said: “A lot of property was seized; using that information, there will be additional investigations that continue. Not a lot I can say about it except, in addition to the reasons why we were focusing on these operations – large amounts of drugs, large amounts of money laundering … we also heard from members of the community about some of the operations being fairly dangerous, operating not well in the community.”

9 Replies to "DEA-search followup: Warrant returns; U.S. Attorney's update"

  • Jim November 18, 2011 (3:33 pm)

    Whats the matter??? No one has nothing to say now???

    • WSB November 18, 2011 (3:35 pm)

      This has been up for a just a few mins, Jim. You may be the first to read it.

  • Captain Obvious November 18, 2011 (4:20 pm)

    A government that takes on a role of oppression as opposed to a role of leadership is broken. Nonsensical, arbitrary, dishonest and hypocritical laws from a broken system of control aren’t laws at all, and in this case the DEA is nothing more than a gang of thugs attempting to wage a gang war against private citizens. At this point our federal government should simply be disbanded because it is broken beyond repair. For other symptoms of this disease ref: various “occupy” movements, any political campaign or debate, the condition of the public school system, the national unemployment rate, the influence the religious minority in this country has on national policy, etc, etc, ad nauseum. When the government causes more harm than the thing it is trying to outlaw, it discredits itself completely.

  • CandrewB November 18, 2011 (4:46 pm)

    I have something to say. All that plus massive DEA involvement for 12 ounces of weed? It’s your money too. No guns, no actual drugs, no outstanding warrants, though it seems they did get a lap top off the streets.

  • mel November 18, 2011 (5:53 pm)

    As a lifelong pot smoker, legalization supporter, and type A business person, I don’t think there could be a better argument for decriminalization than the fact that it would put people like this out of business. The GAME people are obviously drug dealers, not health care providers, period. When was the last time you saw your physician posting photos on Facebook with duffel bags full of money? I consider them the dim witted Al Capones of our era. Legalize it and get rid of them.

  • JanS November 18, 2011 (6:22 pm)

    so, dear Captain Obvious…disband the government, and just let things run amok? I’m wondering how much you’ll complain when you don’t get your share of whatever you might think you have coming to you, whether it’s monetary, or in the form of justice, or anything else?

  • Tuesday November 18, 2011 (8:32 pm)

    If you create a black market for something what do you expect to happen?

  • steve November 18, 2011 (9:51 pm)

    From the article:

    “*Receipt for “1/4# Lemon Kush” and “1/4# Woody Kush” with the notations “on consignment …”

    Selling ‘medical weed’ on consignment? Shady and cheap to boot!

    I was eating lunch outside their WS branch a few months ago and watched a buick with four healthy young men pull up and enter the establishment.

    Somehow I’m not pulling for these particular guys…

  • JoB November 19, 2011 (9:09 am)

    steve..

    but are you pulling for their legitimate customers?

    because there is no legal process that i am aware of to supply those legitimate customers with product.

Sorry, comment time is over.