Invoices from "High Times" advertiser led to grow op bust

[Gans]

wish there was a list of these advertisers so they could be avoided.

Seriously!!!

If someone here has some free time, can you please compile a list of high time advertisers so we know to avoid them.

what disturbs me is that Michigan is supposed to be becoming a medical state...if this is happening, is it going to be safe or is this an obvious sign of degression?

Who knows, I definitely would be weary about registering for a medical card after hearing about recent things happening up there though, they'll probably use that registered info to target you in the western part of the state.

Also, MI is a very varied state that is not the same from place to place. You can kind of think of E/SE Michigan (Detroit, Ann Arbor) as Cali in terms of cannabis tolerance, where as the western part of the state is more like some bible belt state where they will castrate you for cannabis, and in between it can vary depending on where you are at.


Here's an article a friend of mine emailed me earlier this week that was published on Monday from the same area (Grand Rapids area) as this raid, some scumbag cop shot an unarmed cannabis activist who was only a kid, luckily he survived, but it shows you how the cops operate in western MI;

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/MI_cops_shoot_unarmed_20yearold_marijuana_0316.html

 

[de Toke-ville]

By no means do I know all the whys and wherefores.... But, Seedboutique is coming from outside the USA, and that is prob why it is still OK to use 'em. High times ad or no....

Yeah, I'm no lawyer, but I'm pretty sure a UK biz is not required to respond to inquiries from US LEO or to orders from US courts.

-dTv

 

[movingtocally]

Nothing new. Cops would be retarded for not doing this, assuming marijuana busts are a priority from their superiors.

I promise you that every hydro store in america is being watched; if you're parking anywhere near the vicinity of the store, your tags are in possession of the authorities. If you're ordering online, they've got that addy.

etc. etc. etc. We need specialized eqpt from specialized stores; they know it, we know it.

The only way I'd ever grow in a state that is not California is if I was dropped off a mile down the road, then picked up a mile down the road from friends and driven home, or I was able to convert a security ballast from home depot. Driving your car to the growshop and parking in the vicinity is essentially like crossing your fingers and hoping they don't follow up. They've gotcha any time they feel like it.

And I'd NEVER grow big in any state but cally. I don't know if these guys have moose balls or shit for brains, or both. But you're playing with fire.

The "fuck the man just don't get caught" attitude sounds sexy until you wise up and realize there is a reasonable chance you can get nabbed through no error on your part. Personally, I'd rather die than go to prison.

God bless you sicko bastards who do it big anyway though. I'm grateful; I've probably purchased from you before.

I've gotta say though, wtf is that guys deal? 70 something plants in a non grow friendly state, and he's got a good job so he doesn't need to sell? Michigan is not the state for would be breeders to play with strains.

Not very bright.

 

[movingtocally]

Interesting that they "have access" to these private company files. A court order would never require owners to give that up. So that means private individuals are giving out their customers personal information to police just for brownie points, or cash.


I want a list of companies so I can make it my mission in life to harass these fucking roaches with constant phone calls asking why they snitch and if they feel good about themselves. Selling a product they know is marketed towards stoners, making a living doing it, then selling out the very people who pay their bills without a moments hesitation.


I wouldn't do it personally because I'm scared of prison and I don't have the stomach for it, but I certainly wouldn't shed a tear if one of these rats turns up with their penis stuffed in their mouth, tied up in the woods somewhere...

 

[Agent-Smith]

They'll do anything to get their name in a newspaper article or their faces on TV

 

[DogBoy]

Seriously!!!

If someone here has some free time, can you please compile a list of high time advertisers so we know to avoid them.

http://hightimes.com/classifieds/home

High times already show a list of their classified advertisers. It's on their website.

 

[Amstel Light]

Do I have to wear a wig, take a cab to a hydroponics store, and pay in cash to have any chance at anonymity?

LOL

Hey, great work Barney! Excellent use of resources! You managed to take a dozen jars of bud off the streets and it only cost the taxpayers a few million dollars!

funny chit^

the guy failed to put out "clean" trash.

mold on the outside of the house? sounds suspect

ordering stuff to his grow address. not wise.


did i miss anything?

Yea has 30 oz's in the place he is growing. some states determine punishment by weight(fuckin wet weight at that) not plant count.

http://hightimes.com/classifieds/home

High times already show a list of their classified advertisers. It's on their website.

Ummm its not high times or the vendors advertising with them it's the shipping company's .... if HT and vendors were bombarded with emails and letters from the customers for suit or boycott of the shipping company's, maybe just maybe(prolly would not matter?!) something might happen..

i blame the large scale commercial growers and the whole legit growing industry for this!! they should be doing reverse stings on these mofo's...just alil imagination and a whole lot of cash!! wich they have more than enough...

 

[SomeGuy]

"Operation Green Thumb has access to shipping invoices from suppliers who advertise their indoor marijuana-growing equipment in magazines such as 'High Times.' XXXXX XXXX bought his hydroponic equipment from one of the suppliers that do, in fact, advertise in this (manner)."

They aren't getting the info from the retailers, they are getting it from the SHIPPERS IE: UPS, Fed Ex and I would assume the USPS.

They compiled the list of retailers, starting with High Times advertisers and similar mags and I would bet they did web searches and included every site on the net that sells gear in the US.

who said local authorities received information from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program, a project of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Looks to me like the above Fed agency compiled lists from shippers and made them available to local LEO. Local LEO then used that info to get warrants to look at electric records and eventually a search warrant.

 

[pugnacious]

So let me get this right. A bunch of hydro companies just give transaction records to the cops?

 

[dank.frank]

So let me get this right. A bunch of hydro companies just give transaction records to the cops?

ummm...no. Re-read it. A bunch of shipping companies maintain a list of companies that advertise in HT, and those shipping companies report when a package from said distributor is being sent or WHERE it is being sent to.

So it is the shipping companies, not the magazine or the manufacturers.

At least that is my take on it...and really, are we THAT surprised???



dank.Frank

 

[ureapwhatusow]

ummm...no. Re-read it. A bunch of shipping companies maintain a list of companies that advertise in HT, and those shipping companies report when a package from said distributor is being sent or WHERE it is being sent to.

So it is the shipping companies, not the magazine or the manufacturers.

At least that is my take on it...and really, are we THAT surprised???



dank.Frank

there are other ways fo rit to go down, the grow shop doesnt have to do shit

most people use private shippers who are not bound to keep their transactions wiht you private

my guess is they saw the companies in high times, asked, without a warranty, for UPS to give them the records for those companies on High Times and created reasonable cause in the process

im sure its not exact but the police use corporate information all the time most big corporations put LEO before their customers

many ISP allow full government scrutiny of thier customers data, for free

not that this is necessarily what happened but a possible scenerio

 

[JoJoDancer]

Surprize!!! Where on "Scare Tactics..!!"

 

[SomeGuy]

Wood TV

The Search Warrant

Drug bust occurred in January at his
home

Updated: Thursday, 19 Mar 2009, 2:26 AM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 18 Mar 2009, 11:49 PM EDT


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Court records show the list of items confiscated from the home of suspended Grand Rapids Press sports writer David Mayo. Items recovered from the search warrant include 71 marijuana plants, a grow light, seeds, scales and other growing paraphernalia.

Mayo's lawyer, Bruce Block, is raising questions about whether police were justified in searching the home located at 3400 Fuller Avenue NE in Grand Rapids in January.

Block told 24 Hour News 8 he was "appalled" when he read the probable cause affidavit, and said he will be challenging the constitutionality of the search.

24 Hour News 8 obtained copies of the affidavit and the search warrant.

In it, Deputy Todd Butler, with the Kent Area Narcotics Enforcement Team, says on 11 occasions Mayo purchased hydroponic growing equipment used for indoor marijuana growing.

Investigators received shipping invoices from the Michigan High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Office traced to a company that advertises in High Times magazine. Investigators say Mayo purchased his hydroponic equipment from a supplier that advertises in such a manor.

Investigators obtained information showing electricity usage in Mayo's home to be two times higher than the average usage of his neighbors.

Upon surveillance of his residence investigators observed Mayo never took out his trash, and had mold and condensation growing on the residence.

All factors, they say, consistent with a marijuana growing operation.

Mayo's attorney, again, is challenging this evidence, based on Supreme Court rulings requiring police to have proper evidence to enter someone's home. Block said, "I think that what you are seeing is a gradual erosion of rights."

24 Hour News 8 had the documents read by Associate Professor Curt Benson of Cooley Law School in Grand Rapids. After reading the affidavit, based on the standards of the 4th Amendment, Benson says police did indeed have enough evidence to justify a warrant.

"There's no set formula. It's a common sense reading. It's the sort of thing that a magistrate as a reasonable person would read and say there's a real good chance we're going to find drugs in this house, therefore I'm going to sign the warrant."

Benson says the gathering of electricity usage information of both Mayo and his neighbors is legal. And the other factors are consistent with a growing operation.

"As long as the warrant was valid, which it appears it was, they found all the marijuana in the house. The prosecutor is bargaining from a position of strength here, not the defendant," Benson said.

Mayo is charged with the possession, manufacture and delivery of marijuana. Prosecutors have offered a deal to cut the charge to just manufacturing, reducing prison time from a seven to four-year felony.

Mayo's wife, Denise, also faces charges for marijuana possession and maintaining a drug house. Both are free on personal recognizance bonds.

 

[stink.whistler]

It says they confiscated a light, and yet his electricity usage was twice that of his neighbors? What was it, a 4000 watt light?

Will be an interesting story to follow...

 

[SpacedCWBY]

And 71 plants for THAT ONE LIGHT? lol - sounds like he was in the process of cutting / selecting clones for a nice sog.

 

[daddylove]

An interesting update on this case is here. The defendant has filed a motion to quash the warrant and dismiss the case, in part because the police were unable to produce these purported invoices of equipment purchases from High Times advertisers, which were at the center of the affidavit to obtain the search warrant in the first place.

This case looks like it could be headed down the Fourth Amendment whirlpool....:

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/05/attorney_for_suspended_press_s.html

 

[HighTillDeath]

May this is just a hoax story to try to run hightimes out of business?

 

[Nokturnal]

wow just wow that's so wrong and such an invasion of privacy, that's all I can say, if there is evil on the planet, we sure have found out who they are.

 

[h^2 O]

the guy failed to put out "clean" trash.

mold on the outside of the house? sounds suspect

ordering stuff to his grow address. not wise.


did i miss anything?

seriously. "Well if he doesn't put his trash out we know he's hiding something. And if he does put his trash out he's just trying to make it look like he's not hiding something." Yeah mold is a direct indicator of at least 2k watts of HPS. It's a special kind of mold, that is visible from the street. He was obviously picked on intentionally because of his status. They probably looked at a list "Jamal, Tyreese, Lamar, John, Jamal, news guy, Enrique, John...wait a second! News guy!?"

 

[Nokturnal]

Fighting the way that an arrest/search is conducted is our best defense. If police violate the constitution to obtain evidence they are no better than the those that commit the crime.

I agree, but it seems the constitution no longer matters these days, and the police are just another well organized gang.