Warning - Emery Seeds DEA Trap

http://cannabisculture.com/articles/4483.html
Warning: "Emery Seeds" DEA TRAP - UPDATED
by Jodie Giesz-Ramsay (11 Aug, 2005)

Emery Seeds is out of business. And the fall-out may be devastating
on many levels.

Emery Seeds has been raided by the DEA. YOU MAY BE IN DANGER. PLEASE
READ THIS INFORMATION.

Keep up-to-date with discussion on this topic at this thread on the CC Forums.

Information Updated August 12th, 2005

UPDATE:

THIS IS VITALLY IMPORTANT.

When seeds were sent out in June, they took unusually long to get to
people's places. Quite a lot of seed orders -- we're talking 200-300
letters here -- were being intercepted somehow, and held up.

What we believe is that the addresses on incoming mail sent to us
were matched up with outgoing mail that had our return address. Those
outgoing letters were sent, and held up.

Even if your seed order mail was opened, that is not enough to
incriminate you for sending that letter. Nothing in our outgoing
orders implies that you asked for when we're sending. Prosecution
will require that those people who get the scam letter from the DEA
incriminate themselves by agreeing that they wish to receive seeds,
and through acknowldging the letter, prove that they asked for and
paid for seeds.

It is our belief that emails sent to emeryseeds.com were insecure,
and that outbound mail in June seems to have been intercepted and the
information is being used to set up American and Canadian growers for
raids and prosecution.

If you thought there was an unusually long delay in receiving any
recent orders from the time you were aware it was sent, then it is
very likely you are in danger, and should take appropriate action.

This is a regrettable discovery, and means the DEA and RCMP and
perhaps other agencies are coordinating a massive round-up of both
Canadians and Americans in a considerable escalation of the Drug War.

We will give you more information as it is cooberated.

We would like to express concern for all American and Canadian
citizens. We have received many questions from people who have
received messages appearing to be from Marc Emery Direct.

These are FAKE and DANGEROUS.
DO NOT RESPOND!

FAKE! DO NOT RESPOND!

If you received this same type of letter shown, YOU MAY BE IN DANGER.
The Government may be trying to get you to "admit" through responding
that you ordered seeds.

We have NOT sent out any information to our customers, as we do not
retain their records.

BE EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS. We would warn any large-scale growers to
IMMEDIATELY CEASE YOUR OPERATION.

DO NOT GIVE ANY INFORMATION TO THIS GROUP! WE BELIEVE IT IS DEA
TRYING TO DO A MASSIVE BUST ON GROWERS.

Be extremely cautious when dealing with marijuana seeds, and to be on
the lookout for any scams or stings seeking donations or information.
It might be best to refrain from buying seeds at any and all outlets
and online businesses, whether in Canada or the USA. The US
government and DEA are waging war, and many hundreds of people can
still be implicated.

Marc Emery Direct Seeds is closed for good.

There are no refunds.

There are no records.

We have, however, managed to returned a number of orders that were in
the mail boxes (the addresses provided in our catalog and online)
with RTS - return to sender - in black marker on the envelope.
Hopefully this means those people are not in any trouble, but we want
everyone to be extra careful regardless.

Please report any scams to Jodie [at] cannabisculture.com.

The only ways to contribute to our aid is through the steps outlined here.

DON'T RESPOND to any mail or email claims from anyone posing as Marc
Emery Direct! We will convey all legitimate information to our people
through Cannabis Culture Online and the Marc Emery Direct Seeds
website.

DO NOT RESPOND TO ANY MAIL ABOUT SEEDS.

I want to clarify that the DEA took photos of the unopened envelopes
in two mail box addresses, neither of which were the BCMP store or CC
magazine. They were not allowed to open mail. Therefore, anyone who
did not put their address anywhere on the outside of the envelope
will likely not receive this DEA mail. (Please let us know if you do.)

THE DEA HAS OFFICES IN VANCOUVER. Do not think that the DEA cannot do
this from within Canada. The Vancouver Police are, and I quote,
"working hand in glove with the DEA" and "fully cooperating together".

There is no address given on the DEA form, but they ask you to send a
Western Union or Money Gram of $100 to "SAMANTHA CHRISTIE" or "THOMAS
CHAMBERS" or "SAM WOODCHUCK" etc. "in VANCOUVER". They all tell you
to use the code word "SWAP". They say you should not use a PO box in
your address -- the reason being, they can't search a PO box for grow
ops.

WESTERN UNION HEADQUARTERS is working with the DEA. WE KNOW THIS.
That's why they ask you to use it. When you send a Western Union, you
have to show ID, you give your home address, phone number, location,
everything the DEA needs to find you. And anyone using the key word
SWAP... they'll have you right on the spot.

Let me explain why this is likely DEA, and not just a scammer.

The DEA was photographing all mail sent to the two addresses given in
(a) the seed catalogue and (b) at the Emery Seeds website,
respectively.

In doing so, they could record all of the return addresses on those
pieces of mail, whether we picked them up (pre-raid) or not
(post-raid).

Now, they can't "prove" that these pieces of mail are seed orders.
They can't see inside. Maybe it's just fan mail.

What they can do is send their own mail to all of those addresses,
with a letter included (the one we have posted everywhere) posing as
Marc Emery Direct.

If some unsuspecting customer of ours gets that letter, they will:

a) go to Western Union or get a Money Gram to send $100 to the name
of the person on the letter (of which we have three "identities"
documented so far);

b) show their ID and fill out all of their personal information on
the Western Union form to send payment (the $100 the letter asks for);

c) they will write down "SWAP" as their password, as insisted by the letter;

d) they will send their wire to the name on the letter --
pre-determined names set by whatever group is behind this; and

e) they will then send an email to MEDmarijuanaseeds [at] yahoo.ca with:

-(i) confirmation of their order, of which we really didn't send out
or keep (most people just waited by their mailbox),

-(ii) the money control number used by the other end to pick up
payment (so they can pick up your information with it),

-(iii) the name used to both order seeds and to send the wire, and

-(iv) the amount of money transferred (which will always be $100
minimum, as requested in the letter).

So, the only people to get this letter in the mail are people who
ordered seeds from us through the mail.

There is no proof from the outside of the envelopes that they are
seed orders... unless the sender responds to the mail sent to them by
someone posing as Marc Emery Direct.

When someone responds to this letter, it confirms that YES, they did
order seeds. They clearly did, because they wouldn't have the right
name or the password or the location from the letter otherwise.

And once you DO send that $100 to them with "SWAP" as the password,
and all of your information on that form (and they ask you to NOT use
a PO Box, but to use your home address, for what reason, we've
already made clear)... then they've got you.

Also, the use of capital letters is a "legal thing". The system of
Roman contract/admiralty law doesn't recognize lower-case letters and
for a "name" (that is, a series of letters associated to a "person")
to be legally applicable, must be in all upper case.

For this reason, all court documents, etc. use upper case
exclusively. If you are ever filed with legal documents that spell
your name as "Joe Blow" and not "JOE BLOW", they can be thrown out of
court because you can claim (legally and rightfully) that the name on
the document does not apply to you.

To get around this the first thing they try to do is get you to
acknowledge that you are "Joe Blow" and from then on you're pretty
much screwed.

This is no conspiracy theory. There is NO WAY that anyone would have
access to our mailboxes or our database, which was destroyed. No way,
unless they were taking photos of the mail sent to us. Which they
were doing, and they admit it.

We know that the DEA was taking photos of the orders sent to us for seeds.

We know that the DEA would love to have people "admit" they ordered
seeds from Marc Emery Direct.

We feel very strongly that this is Law Enforcement trying to sweep up
a lot of our customers, many whom are growers.

DO NOT RESPOND. DO NOT SEND MONEY. DO NOT SEND INFORMATION.

For more information and updates: http://www.cannabisculture.com

How Can You Really Help?

The recent attack by the USA and DEA on Marc Emery Direct Seeds,
designed to destroy his ability to aid to the marijuana movement,
also puts three people's lives at risk. They face extradition to the
USA and life sentences for various charges.

We are building an impressive legal team to fight this. But there are
many costs involved, and we know that over the next year and beyond
this case will influence massive change.

We hope to continue helping our American, Canadian, and international
friends who are in distress. We want to continue to fight the Drug
War to the very end. But at this time, we need others to support us
now.

You can donate by credit card by going to: Legal Defence Online Donations.

If you want to contribute to our legal fees, which will add up to
over $100,000 in the next year alone, please send a check, money
order, or cash to:

BCMP Bookstore
307 West Hastings st.
Vancouver, BC
V6B 1H6
Canada

If you wish to support POT-TV.net, because it receives no other
revenue than your donations, please send a check, money order or cash
to:

POT-TV
307 West Hastings st.
Vancouver, BC
V6B 1H6
Canada

If you wish to support the continued survival of Cannabis Culture
Magazine, because it can no longer receive seed company advertising,
it needs subscribers, advertising and donations immediately. You can
send a check, money order or cash to:

CC Magazine
15 - 199 West Hastings st.
Vancouver, BC
V6B 1H4
Canada

People in British Columbia who can use a very lucrative
TAX-CREDITIBLE RECEIPT can donate to the BCMP. The BCMP needs to pay
for phones, office and our full time organizer and legal team
co-ordinator KIRK TOUSAW, who, although called to the bar in both
Canada and the United States, is working for food & rent money. He's
a lifesaver, and the Party is made vital through your checks, money
orders, and cash donations (under $100) to:

BCMP
307 West Hastings st.
Vancouver, BC
V6B 1H6
Canada

If you would like to send a check or money order directly to senior
counsel of our legal team, send to:

John Conroy In Trust
2459 Pauline st.
Abbotsford, BC
V2S 3S1
Canada

Please also take the time to watch Marc Emery's public address on Pot-TV.

You can hear from Michelle Rainey, co-accused, in her appearance on
the Marijuana News Global Report on Pot-TV.

There is extensive discussion and regular updates by Marc Emery and
Kirk Tousaw at our CC Online Extradition Forum at the Cannabis
Culture Forums.

Thank you for giving back to an organization that gave so much to the
marijuana movement. Now we are in need, and we hope we have support
in the world wide cannabis community.
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