Dont order from these companies !!

[LolaGal]

I'm sure with the Patriot Act, the govt. can get any records it wants at anytime. So that would mean all companies, shippers, etc. are cooperating. I don't think a list of any particular ones will be useful. Consider them all to be pawns of the Patriot Act!

But thanks to the OP for bringing it to our attention that the govt. uses these transaction records.

 

[midwestganja]

Lets face the facts.

Any package found with drugs or other illegal items, by any carrier, will most likely be forwarded to authorities. So I think its hard to single out UPS and Fedex as "The bad guys", they just do more screening for packages. You think USPS doesnt work with law enforcement when they find a package full of cocaine?

Come on guys

 

[ROJO145]

Heres a very interesting read from NORML,they clearly state the magazine was High Times,no mention of others?
http://stash.norml.org/tag/operation-green-thumb/

Who do ya trust anymore?

 

[Darkstarlive]

Damn,
I order from a Michigan store all the time.

This sucks.

Peace...

 

[JJScorpio]

The NORML article is word for word from the original news article. It still tells nothing of what if any shipping companies are involved.

Like I said earlier. My feeling is the law staked out the hydro shop and then investigated by getting power records and the such.

Again, does anyone have any concrete statements regarding what shipping companies are involved, if any.......

 

[ROJO145]

Well,they tracked shipping invoices of a company that advertises in High Times.....Thats all they need to say.It's fair enuf to say it had to be one of the major handlers of packages.Thats were a shipping invoice comes from.To track an invoice there must have been a carrier
I see it as a good heads up,it doesnt have to single a carrier or a store out,just knowing that the practice is in place and could happen.Thats good lookin out

 

[JJScorpio]

Well,they tracked shipping invoices of a company that advertises in High Times.....Thats all they need to say.It's fair enuf to say it had to be one of the major handlers of packages.

I'm not going to have someone read this and think that it's only UPS or Fed Ex that is responsible and then have a customer choose another shipping company thinking they are safe, when in fact it appears no one has a clue what company or companies are involved. If someone does have some factual information regarding what company or companies are involved then they need to post it. If not, then posts need to be edited so people know it could be anyone....

 

[Vetus Fossor]

Since the article says the police used shipping invoices there can only be 2 answers. Either the seller is helping or the shipping service is cooperating. UPS, FEDEX or USPS or whatever shipping company.
None of the 2 is really helpful to our hobby.
Since I'm familar with UPS and they continue to call the police on suspious packages and since most packages I have ordered have been delivered by them then me and my tinfoil hat tend to believe it's them.
Shipping invoices were given to the police somehow. There aren't any invoice fairies that I'm aware of.

 

[BurmeseDragon]

Oh it is just as likely that the DEA can go and just ask or bring in a court order (which is best for a general costumer inquiry) and get the long list of everyone you have ever received a package from.
I have heard of specific companies being tarted by the DEA and the DEA going out and giving that info to local PD's. People have gotten busted, but usually for having "unusual" electric bills. I remember a dude on OG that only ordered a 250 watt and somehow his local cop said that his electric bill was higher than when he had an apartment. Well, the cost of someones bill says nothing when it is a 250 watt and not 2500 watts (which is not a whole lot in the grow department cash crop grows). The cop doesn't know what appliances are being used and so forth.
Some of those companies there I would have never known advertised in Hightimes, this is probably pressure to shut down the magazine. The DEA has went after simple online stores as well, they always do this to stir people up. The best thing to do is order in your off season if you have one and wait after ordering lights. Maybe start a legal crop and make it look like you have weed growing or other illegal crops and then sue the pants off them.
So how is the attitude being targeted? I bet tons of people still get seeds. Sounds like the DEA was getting into seeds going out of the country too......to the bay. I can think of more than one company on there that is a good one, although I have never ordered anything large from there. Seems like they get way to much innocent info doing this kind of thing. I bet they will piss off people not breaking the law if they keep this up. Seems like they are going after the wrong people, hell domestic is the way to solve the Mexican problem but the DEA is pretty damn dumb about a lot of stuff.

Can't wait until they crack my skull kicking in the front door for my hydro tobacco. A lot depends on your local court system, some judges are very good about having informants and solid.......not speculative, but solid info for a warrant........as they are supposed to. Not that their speculation has to come out true to be a legal warrant, but it has to be more than speculation.......which is what a lot of this kind of spamming DEA tactics are, they are just fishing for info that leads to ANYTHING.....since they are very desperate and going really nowhere in this war.

If someone does go to court on these charges, go for a jury trial and show the odds of their thinking. If the math does not add up, well that is hard with a jury convinced whether you broke the law or not. But one good jury member makes that math stand out as the cops breaking the laws of PROBABILITY.

 

[BurmeseDragon]

Mmm, now that I think about it; everyone in the states going to this server is probably watched for suspicion of supporting terror. What we hear on the news is probably around 1% -10% of what is actually going on and that 10% end never goes anywhere in the news stories.
The fact is that they cannot stand free people and no Government ever has been able to tolerate free thinking individuals......or when their ideas form groups. Yet every Government smuggles every type of substance that is on the black market........not one does not do this....just as every country has Intelligence agencies that hate how you don't buy from them. The DEA is one of many US Intelligence agencies and are as dirty as the rest of them, just not to the extent as others typically.

Sometimes I watch the news and just think bad awful dirty thoughts about a lot of people.

 

[weed science]

i am surprised to see that this thread has been re-opened. It was never my intention to slam the listed companies. One should be able to infer from my post that the companies being monitored are not intentionally sharing info with LEO. LEO is simply taking whatever info they want via ups/fedex. i thought that this thread was closed since some of the companies I mentioned are affiliated with this site; this site can be biased at times for that reason. I was simply trying to contribute a lil something to the community to help keep them safe after taking in so much here, but my efforts seem to be unappreciated by some.


Also, i am not saying that I am 100% sure that all of these companies are being monitored. however, based on recent events as well as "green merchant", there is a reasonable cause to believe that these companies may be monitored. There are many companies with way better deals than those i listed, so WHY EVEN RISK IT ?!!??? There are many that dont want to compromise their security, no matter how insignificant it may seem to others. i am just putting this info out there as a resource, not as a scare tactic.
Peace

 

[basilfarmer]

well this post is probably going to be erased or edited, but anyway, it has long been known by lots of people shipping shady items to avoid couriers and especially UPS like the plague.

I had a friend who worked for fed ex, UPS and the US postal service and he said the normal postal service almost never looked in packages, there had to be a lot of red tape and reason. Yet he said, the "private" corperate owned couriers --especially-- UPS but not just them were looking in packages and notifying authorities at a much higher rate and he suspected finacial incentive. He said, unlike the postal service, they make their money from their customers and against their customers.

What does that mean? One more commonly known example: they make $ from you buying something, but also then they make money collaberating with the shipper and trumping up a larger shipping charge; especially if it crosses the border, then they absolutely gouge your eyes out with a brokerage fee; unless the shipper refuses to cooperate due to the realaity of losing customers, then the duty is more closer to reality.

So, all I have is word of mouth, about couriers being less safe than the regular mail, but seed bay, seed boutique wont use couriers either. So they feel the same way.

Its the same as my BC Bud depot warning I tried to give months ago. I know somebody who was sadly part of that silly outfit and they absolutely *have* been busted/comprimised and people should know. but do I have a news clipping? no. so my thread was erased. Its an awkward situation for both poster and moderator. Worst for people ordering unaware though.... The undocumented news ie word on the street is often far more telling than what is published as 'news'.

anyway,

1) I wouldnt suggest dealing with companies that insist on couriers for your seeds, grow supplies, etc. Its easier for them (and possibly more lucrative) to use couriers but less safe for the customer, especially crossing a border.

2) assume every source & mode of transport is unsafe or watched and always have a safe addy, use a prepaid credit card not in your name or a money order, or cash in registered mail

3) if they are targeting companies listed in pot mags, its a good warning, and something to keep in mind.

 

[Joe Budden]

I think the DEA were working on info about this man and decided it would be a good idea to make us growers paranoid ordering from these companies, I don't believe a thing that comes outta them fuckers mouths!

 

[basilfarmer]

Its like that silly thing the Australian gov tried to do, blocking ic mag apparently (?), well, the aussie posters went and got reliable proxie service and now they are safer than they were before, so it was a blessing in disguise. This stuff just causes people to be more careful and anonymous.

 

[LiLWaynE]

i think the moral of this story is to avoid buying gear off the net... especially if you are in the states.

too many "behind the scene" fucks to have to worry about having your info...

 

[BurmeseDragon]

What does HID huts ad look like? I like to order small things from there, not cheap grow lights. Usually little trinkets, small things that would be really dumb to pursue. I don't know why demasoni gave me bad karma, it is very true that this is just a fishing expedition. The DEA loves to exploit opportunity, seems that the Government in general does a lot of that. Not really setting a high moral bar. I am honestly surprised that old Uncle Sam doesn't have the return address for every seed company....locked into their mail sorting computers. I just don't like having a Government so against personal beliefs all around me, if you want to protect kids to that directly......not indirectly by fearing that they may look up to some people in this area of life, which they do at times whether it is a crime or not. Kids love anti-hero's, hard to tell who is and who isn't these days.

 

[CaptainTrips]

i think the moral of this story is to avoid buying gear off the net... especially if you are in the states.

too many "behind the scene" fucks to have to worry about having your info...

This is a case of picking your poison, going to a hydro store in person is not without risk. Ordering online can be safer, as you can have it shipped to someone else, usually easier than getting a car that isn't in your name.

 

[LiLWaynE]

...............................

 

[One Love 731]

If an order is over 150 pounds or of a certain size it is shipped via a trucking company, also you always have that option at least with the sites I am familiar with. Back in the days (before 9-11) I shipped 100-150 pounds 3 times a month through UPS without incident, luckily I herd through the grape vine that things/security had changed before I had to learn first hand. As the times change we must adapt. You should never have growing material's delivered to your personal residence or your grow opp. always give any new gear or product cool off for a few days before taking it home rather it be shipped or purchased from a local hydro shop and never use your own car. Karma, One Love

 

[basilfarmer]

There's no easy answer here. I find the local hydro shops to lack freshness, variety and good prices, but one guy is pretty nice and could special order almost anything in, then HE would be my mail drop lol. Its still necessary to go in a car that isnt yours and who's owner doesnt have anything illegal at their residence.

Personally I'm just not ordering grow equipment across a border until I have my med permit all sorted. Plus the shipping would be insane on items like carbon scrubbers--- not worth it. Good old DIY is seriously underrated too. Many, many innocent hardware items can be turned into top notch grow room goodies and its fun too.