watch out what online retailers you order from

[fatcat666]

found this on another , private forum, so i copied and pasted. i hope the original poster doesn't mind:

"I have a buddy that got busted a few weeks ago by the FEDS and he has already gotten his discovery from them.Now understand first that this old dude was a for real outlaw from the 60's all the way up and he was so hush hush that he had seen my room before and my plants and I still had no idea he was growing indoor.Three weeks ago my dad calls and asks if i know so and so and I say yeah i've known him since I was a kid.Dad says well he just got busted with a 1000 plant indoor grow!!!!!!!!!!!My first thought was oh lord he was at someone elses and got pinched,as it turned out it was his and it was behind his house and he had been doin it a couple years but handed the finished goods off to one man out of our county every time it was ready.He was doing 36 zips every 18 days and running 14,000 watts he told me after the fact.Anyway to get to the heads up he didnt even know how the feds knew until he got the discovery and he brought it by for me to see.The very first part of the discovery was him ordering lights from un named places on the internet that had disclosed it to the feds.Well my buddy let me know that he only ordered from discount hydro and greentree hydro so one or both of those turned over everything he had ordered from them without them even asking and that got them on his trail because he had a previous record.Just letting you guys know,as If the damn DEA could get this guy they can get anybody because he was the most secretive man i've ever met,the type of dude you wouldnt mind robbing the bank with if you get my drift because he tells no one nothing.I was shocked to find out that these hydro stores alerted the authorities of his orders,thing is I don't know if its over a certain dollar amount or what just letting you know fellas that are in the U.S.,we cant be to safe and I would wanna know this if one of you guys knew it,it would certainly play into me ordering from them."

 

[movingtocally]

Thanks for sharing. Could be bullshit, but it's believable. These guys are businessmen. 99 times out of a 100 a cop can report an "anonymous tip" from a paid informant (hydro shop owner) and that's that. Nobody will suspect the hydro owner, and they reap the rewards of having the feds off their ass, and possible a monetary settlement.

Undoubtedly people will come in claiming that the hydro stores would never do that to their customer base, bad business, blah blah blah. But it's only bad business if they get caught, and if the cops just report the bust originating from an anonymous informant, they can keep the charade going.

Put yourself in the position of a DEA agent. Sweet talk a few business owners with a bullying tone and wave a few grand in their face and you're guaranteed to have essentially as many busts as you want with very little work on your end.

They'd be retarded not to try, and some of them aren't retarded.

 

[idoja]

reminds me of when i worked front desk at an budget hotel. a few pigs approached me and offered a monetary reward for snitching on runners. they told me to look out for mexicans paying with cash. they said to give them a call if i see 50's or 100's.
not hard to imagine them doing that in other businesses. ...on a federal level though...sounds like a partner flipped. or an old lady

 

[JJScorpio]

It's highly unlikely he would recieve discovery three weeks after the arrest. There are months of motions prior to trial. But anyways.

It still is a good idea to be leary of leaving any kind of paper trail to yourself. Why do it? I'd drive 500 miles before ever leaving any kind of trail to myself....

 

[JJScorpio]

I would also like to add there's no proof that this bust was because of any Hydro store purchases. It's just speculation.

We have had other posts similar to this and of yet I've seen no concrete proof but there's been articles that certain LEO claim they are getting invoices through Operation Green Thumb so I'll leave this. Just use your head and don't ever leave a paper trail to your grow....

 

[KharmaGirl]

Nice JJ

 

[boroboro]

Invoices from "High Times" advertiser led to grow op bust
http://icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=115488

Stories like this seem to be coming up more frequently in the past year or two, unless I'm imagining it. Most stories seem to originate in areas the DEA has flagged as 'HIDTA'. Blame seems to fall towards the private shipping companies sharing shipping invoices with the DEA (or local LEO?).

If this guy ordered a significant quantity of stuff for a 14KW operation he might have made a short list for follow-up investigation.

FatCat666, you say he was a "a for real outlaw from the 60's". Did he have a regular guy cover also? A legit source of income?

 

[hempknowsis]

So, what's safer for the small, personal grower. Ordering online, or going to the hydro shop and hope there's no LEO keeping an eye on you?

 

[movingtocally]

So, what's safer for the small, personal grower. Ordering online, or going to the hydro shop and hope there's no LEO keeping an eye on you?

What I ended up doing was taking public transportation to a grow shop. You can make it work-park your car at a major venue with a massive parking garage. From there, if possible take a public transit to the grow shop, or failing that take a cab.

 

[Gray Wolf]

The Feds walked into a local store with subpoenas for all phone records and sales receipts for the past five years. The store had little choice.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

So, what's safer for the small, personal grower. Ordering online, or going to the hydro shop and hope there's no LEO keeping an eye on you?

I'd say it doesn't matter where you shop..... don't go buying 4 or 5 600-1000w lights at a time and definitely purchase from multiple shops. Keep your purchases to a single setup worth of equipment and don't frequent the same shops often.

1000 plants? That's 10x the fed limit and only 1/5th the number I want.

 

[WaterWerkz]

I have a legit tomatoe grow outside and i went to extreme length not to buy more than one piece of equipment from a hydro store.

My system is all out doors and hand made. A tank from a Agriculture hardware place, pipe from a home improvement store, pump from walmart, an r/o unit from an aquarium place.

only the nutes and net pots are from a single hydro store...bought in person, in cash.

i don't trust this place, its gross income is too low to be able to literaly keep the lights on and sign payroll.

 

[lysol]

Well if theyre makin up BS to get us talking about it it worked.

 

[Maj.PotHead]

i would never order online i allways go to the hydro shop ifn LEO wishes to pop me so be it here i am my little grow isnt worth there time lmao.

 

[The Southpaw]

i think the scale of the grow is a critical factor here.. I simply dont see LEO having the resources to try to run down personal growers..

 

[VirginHarvester]

i think the scale of the grow is a critical factor here.. I simply dont see LEO having the resources to try to run down personal growers..

Yeah, they probably matched up someone they were interested in who also had huge purchases and went from there. But without other evidence it seems like LEO would be taking a huge chance. What if this person had bought the equipment for someone else and LEO busts the door down and finds nothing?

That said, it seems like if you have to order and have it shipped to you, be stealth. Try to use a friend and a safe address and pick it up from your friend IF you can really trust said friend.

Or, lets say you were having it shipped to your house. You could actually tell your postman/UPS guy that "insert a name" is going to be receiving mail for a while. Then you pay by money order via that guy's name and it will be delivered to you under his name. The point of that seemingly ridiculous exercise is that it's going to be real difficult for LEO to get a warrant to search your home for a guy named "insert a name". A judge just isn't likely to allow it.

If you're lucky enough to live close to a hydro store you could even rent a cheap car, borrow a car, etc and pay cash.

I agree with everyone that the key is appearing small time, not having purchased 6000 watts of grow equip at a time.

 

[Diamonddss]

found this on another , private forum, so i copied and pasted. i hope the original poster doesn't mind:

hey bro! most private forums i belong to very much do not approve of C & P'ing anything without permission. Yours may not care, but if i post in a private forum then i wish it to stay private