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Dispensary operating within state law is raided
By Hempology | July 17, 2007
The Bakersfield Californian, CA
16 Jul 2007
Jason Kotowski
POT DISPENSARY RAIDED AGAIN
Federal drug agents busted an Oildale marijuana dispensary for the second time in three months Monday, seizing more than 87 pounds of processed marijuana and arresting five people.
The business had done $9.6 million in sales in nine months, officials said. That’s a large amount of money for this type of operation, especially considering the time frame, said Gordon Taylor, DEA assistant special agent in charge.
Drug Enforcement Administration raids were conducted at Nature’s Medicinal Cooperative at 323 Roberts Lane and at two residences, one adjacent to the medical marijuana dispensary and the other at dispensary owner David Chavez Sr.’s house at 229 Montalvo Drive in Bakersfield, according to the DEA.
Five people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to distribute marijuana, Taylor said. David Chavez Sr., 48, and his son and co-owner of the business, David Chavez Jr., 28, were taken into custody along with employees John Wyatt, 28, John Shanks, 59, and Jennifer Brown, 34. All live in Bakersfield.
Nature’s Medicinal Cooperative was raided in early May and Taylor said David Chavez Sr. was warned then that federal agents would return if he reopened.
“We came back this time with arrest warrants in hand,” Taylor said. Chavez wasn’t arrested in the previous raid because the investigation was ongoing, Taylor said.
All those arrested were being held in Lerdo Jail Monday evening, Taylor said. Chavez has said he’s operating within state law and it is unfair for the federal agents to target him.
In addition to the processed marijuana, the raid netted 35 marijuana plants, a small amount of baked goods laced with pot, a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun and a 12-gauge shotgun. Also, $20,000 was seized from bank accounts related to the dispensary and $15,036 in cash was seized from Chavez’s house, a DEA news release said.
Records indicate 1,500 pounds of marijuana were purchased by the dispensary between December 2005 and April 2006, the news release said. In the May raid, 155 pounds of processed marijuana, pot-laced food and $55,000 in cash were seized.
The 18-month investigation was led by the DEA’s Bakersfield office, in coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the eastern district of California, the Bakersfield Police Department, Kern County Sheriff’s Department and Central Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, Taylor said.
Several Sheriff’s Department cruisers were parked in front of Nature’s Medicinal Cooperative at 10 a.m. and the parking lot was roped off with police tape. A large van was parked next to the side door.
California law allows the sale of medicinal marijuana to qualified patients. The drug, however, is still illegal under federal law and anyone selling marijuana in the state can be federally prosecuted.
Ken Krenz, 67, of Lake Isabella,was at the dispensary about 3 p.m. Monday and was having trouble hearing an employee who wouldn’t open the door. Krenz said he has been going to Nature’s Medicinal Cooperative for about a year to make purchases for his wife, who suffers from back pain.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” Krenz said of the raid.
He said he’ll go to another dispensary. Others in the area include American Caregivers Collective and Bakersfield Co-op.
Taylor said it’s been his experience that owners of marijuana dispensaries, or “pot clubs,” as he calls them, are solely interested in making money.
“( Dispensary owners ) will contend that they’re only interested in helping the sick and terminally ill,” Taylor said. “For the most part, we’re finding the contrary.”
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