Grow Shop Surveillance

[oldbongwater]

Black Helicopters

Black Helicopters

He was parked in the lot to the north of the parking lot for Brew and Grow, and yes the employees have been tipped off..but for my peace of mind i am going to Paradigm in Madison for everything from now on..they have a much larger selection anyway...and the other thing is Brew and Grows prices are really on the high side (no competition). Better safe than sorry. 7 years`in the can is no way to make a living.
ob

 

[mdk ktm]

true that old bong water, if i had another place to go, i really wouldnt go there, the employees dont know shit, and they bend you over on prices. If i was a little farther ahead in life, i would love to open one in milwaukee. IMO having a more educated staff that actually grows, and knows how to do it. Plus the population of milwaukee, i couldnt see why it wouldnt work. I just got out of highschool and i wouldnt even know how to go about starting a shop.

 

[Lord Doobie]

you could try buying some innocent items for a while and see what happens...but chances are you're growing too much which requires visiting too often...this is why it's pretty hard to get busted when you're not growing all the time...and why it's important to use buy-once/recyclable materials...perhaps changing your whole MO for a cheaper and greener yield

JMO

 

[mtbazz]

Rental car maybe? When I drop my personal vehicle off for routine maintenance I usually get a free loaner car for the day. Its these times that I usually go to the hydro store and stock up on things I'll need. Its a little added layer of security, and I imagine it involves a significant effort on the po-po's part to try and track down who the car was rented to.

 

[wintermute]

Fight chilling effect with sunshine

Fight chilling effect with sunshine

I say take a camera with you, walk right up to the fucker and start taking pictures of him and his tag.

While I like this idea and sometimes it does work, it usually results in you getting hassled by the man. (Take one for the team? Use a cheap camera phone you can upload pics to an online account and don't care if they confiscate. They may still hold and/or arrest over bullshit charges that are usually dropped. Don't record audio.

 

[Buster Brown]

Ya i would just make the 70 mile trip fuck it, just make sure you get everything ya need before you leave!!! I order on the net But i usually buy Gift Cards or "pre-Paid" credit card from my local check cashers that i can put in a fake name and address, and have the stuff shipped to a safe place ..

 

[imnotcrazy]

I wouldn't be so brazen to go in they face with a camera..... or even pointing out that you are aware of their presence.......

Who knows if they decide to hit you with impeding an investigation type of charge

Using more than one shop is always a better idea anyway

 

[jessrabit]

Rumours abound, Norcal still has it's stores under surveillance. Don't know for certain but enough people have told me through the years to make me concerned about the city patrol that tailed me after pulling out of the shop a few months back. Fortunately, I had just moved-didn't and haven't transfered my registration to my new street address.
I just don't trust the buggers.

 

[philcollins]

I, also, would like to say...that it is wisest to assume these stores are all watched...and have been for a long time...take the necessary precautions..

 

[James Morrison]

online!! prob solved, u are not ordering a stash lol..so not illegal..no biggie

 

[Jalisco Kid]

In socal you have more then the cops to worry about. I have heard of gas and hydro shops being watch by chollos. Easy pickins and they don't call the cops. Suerte JK

 

[oldbongwater]

I usually try and keep up with the local busts and such, but have never heard of anything related to Grow Shops. I guess it depends on how it all goes down..but it seems strange that with all this surveillance going on that nothing is ever mentioned about the end results of watching hundreds of people coming and going from these shops..kind of makes you wonder what the hell is really going on? It really does not make sense,either they are just watching and doing nothing about it, or doing something about it but no one is reporting it..strange..
ob

 

[wintermute]

I usually try and keep up with the local busts and such, but have never heard of anything related to Grow Shops. I guess it depends on how it all goes down..but it seems strange that with all this surveillance going on that nothing is ever mentioned about the end results of watching hundreds of people coming and going from these shops..kind of makes you wonder what the hell is really going on?

Set up a google news, web and groups alert for marijuana bust related terms delivered real time to an email drop you access from a proxy. I can tell you they have been (operation green bullshit whatever) and currently employ grow store surveillance to bust people, even in medical states. There was a rash of such busts in Aurora, a suburb of denver last month iirc. Municipal, county and state LE resources can request DEA/FBI/IRS resources for any reason and such intervention is not considered counter to the presidents directive against pursuing legally sanctioned medical cannabis protected by state and local laws.

A number of years ago I lived in a southern state where the cops would not only stake out the parking lots of head shops and grow shops, but they would also place a deputy inside the store for most of the day by the register, just lounging in as intimidating a fashion as possible. If the business owner objected they'd be charged with obstruction and facilitation, and if they consented they do it for a week in a bid to shut them out of business. Never stopped me from dopping in to purchase a piece or two while flying mighty high on some double dipped, though I made sure not to take any contraband with me

In any case, screw them. Post their pics to wikileaks as abuse of tax dollars and don't be stupid if you do make runs to the grow shop or head shop. Problem solved!

 

[mdk ktm]

went there this week, went through everywhere and checked cars first, not a single person in a car anywhere. Unless the dude was sleeping in the backseat. Im not worried about it anymore its not like im walking out with 10 thousand watters at a time or anything

 

[oldbongwater]

I would be a little leery about going over there..just because you do not see anything suspicous does not mean they are not lurking in the weeds. If you read all these posts about how sneaky these agencies can get..just remember it is your freedom that you are gambling with..being overly cautious is a cheap price compared to what your freedom is worth.
ob

 

[IWanaGetHiSoHi]

Before approaching "suspected" cops staking out Grow Shops remember that Obstructing Justice is a real charge with real consequences.

 

[wintermute]

... remember that Obstructing Justice is a real charge with real consequences.

Which is why the grow shop / head shop consents to their surveillance without comment. Still has little relevance on taking pictures of public things in public places. You may get arrested for obstruction of justice, or harassment, but lame charges are always dropped: they don't stand up in court. You may get "hassled by the man" - a lot of people have and will continue to be (protesters, government accountability types, amateur photographers, etc, all run into this problem from time to time too) but that is not a felony convinction by any measure!

So unless you are posting the pics with a plea to "hang, draw, and quarter this narc ahole!" or recording audio, or clearly harassing with intent to disrupt whatever they are doing, you are on the safer side of the law.

My experience does not change the fact that I am not a lawyer

 

[wintermute]

Aurora busts

Aurora busts

This was the report mentioned earlier:


Marijuana growhouse sniffed out by following hydroponics buyers
September 3, 6:34 PMDenver Legal News ExaminerGlorianne Scott

FBI agents surveilled an Aurora store that sold hydroponic equipment. They then followed customers who bought hydroponic growing materials to their homes. One such surveillance effort led to the arrest of two men in South Denver who were growing hundreds of marijuana plants. Agents also found nearly half a million dollars worth of guns, cash, and another unnamed controlled substance, Raj Chohan of CBS4 l is reporting.

Kevin Randall, 28, and Luke Short, age unknown, were arrested. Each faces up to 40 years in prison.

... and also a good example of what not to do when shopping for gear

 

[SmokyMtnToker]

Living in the country means no shops within a 3 hour drive...each way..so I order all my gear thru the trusted places I have used for years with no hassles.

I have the stuff shipped to a very close friend who has no grows ever and pick it up from him. He is glad to accept packages as I always take care of him at harvest time. Simple. Of course if you do not have someone you trust implicitly, then thats a problem.

 

[HydroIndustry]

The practice, unfortunately, is widespread, yet localized. Not all grow stores in all geographic areas are being monitored, yet many are, especially in the "hot spot" areas of California, Southern Florida (see partial article below), Washington State, and Colorado. The other iffy areas are primarily in the southern states, with reports of surveillance coming from both Texas and Louisiana as well.

Most of these surveillance operations are conducted by local or county police departments, rather than the DEA... although the DEA often works in conjunction on "joint operations".

There is no law that prohibits law enforcement from observing customers entering any kind of store. There have been a few very isolated incidents over the past 2 decades of store owners getting busted, through their own stupidity, and then supplying information to law enforcement through their stores in exchange for leniency in sentencing.

LARGO - On four different days earlier this year, an undercover narcotics detective with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office saw a white Volvo parked at XXXXXXX Hydroponics, a specialty gardening store in Largo.
The car was registered to a 37-year-old woman living in a Redington Beach waterfront home. The month after her Volvo was last seen at XXXXXXX Hydroponics, narcotics detectives raided her home.

They found 141 marijuana plants.

That same undercover detective also saw a silver and gray Honda Element at XXXXXXX Hydroponics, that led to a raid at a Clearwater home; a Ford pickup parked outside the store, that led to a raid on a Largo home; a green Dodge van at the store, that led to a raid on a St. Petersburg home; and two BMWs that were spotted at the store, that led to a raid at a different St. Petersburg address.

This is the picture that emerges from affidavits that were written this year by investigators to convince a judge to authorize the raids. Typically, after the plate number is jotted down, narcotics detectives go to property linked to the owner, and see if an inordinate amount of power is consumed there, or whether it smells of cannabis – two tell-tale signs there's a marijuana grow-house inside. Then a search warrant is requested.

All told, according to the affidavits, the undercover detective launched more than a half dozen grow-house investigations simply by running license plate numbers outside the store – a tactic that raises concerns that gardening aficionados might be unfairly targeted by narcotics investigators.