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Call to Modesto Activists to Respond to DEA Raids!!!
The California Healthcare Collective in Modesto was raided this morning
by local and federal agents. Make a sign and head to your local DEA
office this Friday, September 29th at 12p.m.
by local and federal agents. Make a sign and head to your local DEA
office this Friday, September 29th at 12p.m.
Activists statewide have committed to holding emergency response actions
at their local federal buildings. There will be at least five actions on
Friday, but it's incredibly important that there be a local response in
Modesto.
We're calling on central valley patients, caregivers, doctors, attorneys
& supporters to come together and coordinate an action in Modesto.
Please contact me immediately if you can step up to the plate and make
this happen!
Here's the info on the raids and action, in case you haven't seen it
already...
The California Healthcare Collective in Modesto was raided this morning
by local and federal agents. Two dispensary operators and two employees
were arrested and will be arraigned on Friday.
The DEA needs to know that the medical marijuana community of California
will not stand for the continued attack on our sick and dying! Stand up
for your right to safe access! Make a sign and head to your local DEA
office this Friday, September 29th at 12p.m.
WHO: Patients and supporters sick and tired of federal intervention in
California
WHAT: Protest against Federal Raid of California Healthcare Collective
WHEN: Friday, September 29th at 12 Noon
WHERE: Your Local DEA Office (we will release a list of local offices
this evening or tomorrow morning)
Please contact Rebecca immediately at rebecca [at] safeaccessnow.org
<mailto:rebecca [at] safeaccessnow.org> or 510-251-1856 x 308 if you plan to
organize one of these actions so we can post the information on our
website. These demonstrations are a vital part of our grassroots
opposition to the federal crackdown. Please make plans to attend and
encourage others to do so. Please check our web site or call the ASA
office if you need additional information. Also look out for further
email updates in the coming days.
--
Rebecca Saltzman
Field Coordinator
Americans for Safe Access
p (510) 251-1856 x 308
f (510) 251-2036
http://www.safeaccessnow.org
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The DEA claims that the Modesto dispensary was doing $2.5 million
per year in business selling medical marijuana. That represents some
$200,000 in lost sales tax alone, not to mention the jobs & payroll
taxes generated. Taxpayers can only wonder how much the
government spent to carry out this elaborate investigation, and how
much more will be spent to prosecute and imprison the offenders?
The government crime-creation complex in action - what a boondoggle!
- DG
DEA, IRS, Modesto Police Raid Medical Marijuana Business
Written for the web by C. Johnson, Internet News Producer
Written for the web by Elizabeth Bishop, Senior Internet News Producer
E-mail Story
Print Story
Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue
Service and the Modesto Police Department raided what they say is one
of the biggest medical marijuana dispensaries in Northern California.
This morning, officers went to the California Healthcare Collective
at Fairmont Avenue and McHenry Avenue in Modesto to serve seven
search warrants. The search came in the wake of a number of federal
indictments against the owners of the collective.
Between the business and several residences named in the warrants,
agents recovered 60 pounds of marijuana, 30 pounds of baked goods
laced with marijuana, two pounds of hashish, three loaded guns,
$16,000 in cash, a 2007 Mercedes-Benz and a 2006 Dodge pick-up truck.
Taken into custody were the Collective's chief financial officer Luke
Scarmazzo, 26; proprietor Ricardo Ruiz Montes, 26 and employees Jose
Francisco Malagon, 33 and Antonio Malagon, 28. All of the men are
from Modesto and all are facing charges of conspiracy to manufacture
and distribute marijuana. A conviction carries a sentence of 10 years
to life imprisonment.
In the investigation, a DEA spokesman said as many as 400 people a
day were going into the Collective. Undercover agents were able to
use fake identification and fake physician prescriptions to buy
marijuana. They observed individuals coming into the shop, buying
marijuana and then selling it in the shop's parking lot.
The collective employed security guards making between $120 and $150
an hour. There was an ATM and a money-counting machine inside the
business.
Quarterly financial statements on record with the city showed the
Collective took in $1.25 million in the first two quarters of 2006.
The DEA said they've raided seven such operations calling themselves
marijuana dispensaries and today's operation was by far the largest.
The raid comes on the heels of a vote by the Modesto City Council
Tuesday to close a loophole in an ordinance aimed at banning medical
marijuana businesses. Previously, the ban only applied to marijuana
dispersaries that made a profit from sales. The Collective claimed it
was a non-profit organization. The council changed the ordinance so
it now applies to non-profits as well.
Copyright 2006
News10/KXTV
. All Rights Reserved.
For more information:
http://kxtv.com/storyfull2.aspx?storyid=20305
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