DEA Raided This Woman's House After She Shopped At A Garden Store

TheMan13

Well-Known Member
Angela Kirking never thought shopping for garden supplies would lead to agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration waking her up with guns drawn, but that's what happened last October.

"I bought a bottle of organic fertilizer, a 16-ounce bottle," said Kirking, a 46-year-old face-paint artist. "Three weeks later I was raided by DEA."

The DEA is refusing to answer questions about the law enforcement operation targeting an Illinois garden store that has netted Kirking and at least 10 other people. But Kirking and her lawyer contend it's a case of misplaced priorities and federal overreach. They're asking why the DEA is treating ordinary customers of a garden store selling hydroponic equipment as if they were major drug dealers.

The Oct. 11, 2013, raid on Kirking's house, first reported by Patch, involved four DEA agents and five Shorewood, Ill., police officers, according to a police report. Its alleged yield from Kirking's art room, whose entrance is guarded by beads: 9.3 grams of marijuana, or less than one-third of an ounce.

Now Kirking's defense lawyer, former Will County (Ill.) prosecutor Jeff Tomczak, is trying to have the search warrant and the two misdemeanor charges it produced thrown out.

Kirking's visit to the garden store, Midwest Hydroganics, was the predicate for the whole investigation of her, according to Tomczak. "100 percent nothing else," he said, calling that far too thin a thread on which to base a search warrant.

In the search warrant application, a Braidwood, Ill., police officer assigned to the DEA, Donn Kaminski, wrote that he had observed Kirking exit the garden store "carrying a green plastic bag containing unknown items." Kaminski stated he had "previously conducted numerous investigations that involved the surveillance of Midwest Hydroganics and persons purchasing items at Midwest Hydroganics, which has led to the arrest of suspects for production of cannabis sativa plants and production of cannabis."

A man answering the phone at the Midwest Hydroganics store declined to comment on the DEA operation.

Kaminski wrote that he then sifted through Kirking's household trash, detecting "a strong odor of green cannabis" in one plastic trash bag, and compared her home's electrical bill to that of her neighbors, finding that it was higher. Another officer conducted a field test on a green plant stem, which allegedly tested positive for marijuana. That was enough for a judge to sign a warrant.

An application for a search warrant for a different Midwest Hydroganics customer, Tomczak noted, stated that police had found no evidence of marijuana plant residue in the trash -- and suggested that was evidence a suspect was covering up his marijuana grow.

The result in Kirking's case was an early morning raid on her home.

"They were in full attack mode, came at me guns raised, flashlights. Just like you see in the movies," Kirking said. "I had to ask them for a warrant. I said, 'Who are you,' when they came in the bedroom. Somebody said, 'DEA.'"

A spokesman for the Will County State's Attorney described Kirking's case as just one among many resulting from surveillance of the store.

"There are 11 total cases based upon search warrants that were written and charged based upon this type of surveillance in Will County by the DEA," said Charles Pelkie, director of public affairs for the state's attorney's office. "Eleven of those cases are charged, eight have been prosecuted in Will County."

Kirking's alleged marijuana stash was paltry. But Pelkie said other searches have produced more serious amounts. The largest of these in Will County, he said, yielded 120 marijuana plants, 290,510 grams of cannabis and 178 Ecstasy pills. That raid has resulted in one person pleading guilty to a felony.

Pelkie said the Will County State's Attorney makes its decisions on charges when the DEA presents its evidence. He refused to comment on whether targeting a garden store was the best use of the agency's resources.

"With regard to how the DEA conducts its investigations, you really have to refer to them," said Pelkie.

But on that count the federal agency is not being helpful. Special Agent Owen Putman, spokesman for the DEA's Chicago Division, declined via email to comment on the operation targeting Midwest Hydroganics.

The Illinois law enforcement operation seems to follow the same pattern as a two-state operation out of Kansas City, Mo., that also involved the DEA. The effort dubbed "Operation Constant Gardener," led by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, also staked out hydroponic garden stores and eventually arrested 14 people. To maximize publicity, those raids happened on April 20 of 2011 and 2012 -- 4/20, also known as "Weed Day."

After the initial favorable headlines, however, the other side of Operation Constant Gardener came into focus: Innocent gardeners had been harassed, and garden stores saw diminished business.

In the Kansas City suburb of Leawood, Kan., law enforcement agents clad in bulletproof vests and carrying assault rifles raided the home of a couple and their two children. The parents turned out to be former CIA employees. Even after no marijuana was found, police allegedly suggested to Adlynn and Robert Harte that perhaps their 13-year-old son used marijuana.

"These folks have never used drugs at all. They have the cleanest backgrounds ever," said the couple's lawyer, Cheryl Pilate. "They used a SWAT team -- or a bunch of deputies dressed up like SWAT officers using SWAT tactics -- which was totally inappropriate."

Pilate said the couple's ordeal started after the husband went to the hydroponic garden store to buy supplies for an educational indoor vegetable garden he planted with his son. The Hartes are now suing for damages.

In many cases, Pilate argues, the police rely on inaccurate and unreliable field testslike those used to identify alleged traces of marijuana in suspects' trash. Her clientscontend in their lawsuit that the supposed "marijuana" found in their trash was actually discarded tea leaves.

Pilate said police departments are quick to put out press releases when such raids turn up drugs or marijuana plants.

"What you hear about are the people who are charged. You generally don't hear about the people who aren't," said Pilate.

In Illinois, the Will County State's Attorney has so far not answered HuffPost's request for statistics on how many search warrants were executed as part of the Midwest Hydroganics investigation that did not result in prosecutions.

Kirking, the face-paint artist who faces two misdemeanor charges for the small amount of marijuana found in her home, is hopeful the judge in her case will throw out the warrant. She thinks the garden store operation should stop.

"You feel very violated. I mean extremely violated. My husband and I were in shock for days afterwards -- how did this happen?" she said. "It's sad that they are resorting to this method."

HuffPost Readers: Have you encountered problems after shopping at a hydroponic garden store? Contact Matt Sledge by emailing [email protected].
 

TheSnake

Well-Known Member
This is why you use a vehicle that is not registered to you, or if it is, your drivers license address is at a dif location than your grow is. Base head ass cops...

Anyone growing illegally knows this shit... Home depot, no problem, too many people, to many are normal to fuck with investigating, same as lowes or other major home improvement stores. Hydroponic stores are watched to some degree or another. If you have your name linked to your vehicle, or purchases via credit/debit, just make sure your address/ shipping address is separate from the fucking grow site. Hence why many use parents / family / friends addresses, etc. I will leave my address on my DL and registration at my mom's place till i die for this reason. You can also ship shady purchases there as well, and grow supplies because nothing illegal is taking place there.

The key is separating where your illegal activity takes place, from all other things, on paper.

Also, if your hydro store had eyes on it, and raided someone, arrest or not, conviction or not. You have a window of opportunity afterwards, because eventually the shop will sue the police dept for harassment if there customers keep getting fucked with. It's all a damn game in the long run. A stupid ass fucking game honestly, If drugs were legal, imagine all the out of work cops? Probably 90% of them, then they would start flipping / selling / manufacturing, to stay alive... Pathetic. The 10% of police left would actually have to do police work, like responding to calls for service, and tracking down homicidal fucktards, etc. Which they don't want to do, its too dangerous. Drug's make them money, they get seized property, vehicles, money, etc all that goes into there paychecks. Police would basically go out of business if they could not make drug stops. Which I actually hope all drugs are legalized, and police are reduced to nada... I believe american's over many other countries have enough armed citizens, to lay shit out if push comes to shove. Fuck this police state bullshit, cops on every block... Where the fuck did freedom go!?
 

TheMan13

Well-Known Member
We are a medicinal state and the DEA raided Grow Greens grow shop here with a strong online presence just last May. Their search warrant/indictment was under the guise that the place was running a dispensary, which is laughable. When they found nothing as expected, they seized their business records regardless and without explanation. If you've watched the news you know many huge raids where conducted here off I-94 Detroit to Muskegon all year following and whom knows how many little old ladies that didn't make the news. It just seems to me that this type and means of data mining should be criminal, especially in a medicinal state.
 

Medical420MI

Well-Known Member
This type of investigation should be illegal. They are assuming guilt just because someone shops at a garden store. That's like raiding anyone that shops at a drug store cause the must be manufacturing meth.
 

racerboy71

bud bootlegger
i'm not in michigan, but i know of a hydro store in pa that had people busted for simply shopping there as well a good few years ago now..
i never take my car to the hydro store when i need to go, which i try and make it very rarely.. it is such bs that buying legal items can lead to a search warrant.. but idk about the lady in the article. it said they found some cannabis stems and a few other things, which helped in the search warrant.. she might be sol in my opinion.. naturally, it's complete horse shit, not my point though..
 

slumdog80

Well-Known Member
Kicking the door of a former CIA agents home should at least change things in Kansas. You expect cops
to do dumb shiit, and carry on investigations without putting much thought into it. I expect more from the judges
signing these warrants though.

There are quite a few cities in CA that still start investigations through hydro shops. Even in med states
you need to watch your six coming and going from shops. I always take a cab to/from shops from near by.
I have always thought more about rippers waiting for people coming out with big orders then trying to
follow people home.
 
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bird mcbride

Well-Known Member
The gardening store may as well forget it. I know I wouldn't purchase something from a store that could result in me being woken up with guns being pointed at me. The war on drugs destroys everything.
 

TheMan13

Well-Known Member
I have been in contact with this HuffPost reporter and he has expressed interest in providing us some updated info on last years local DEA raids. I'm pretty geeked that our plight as medicinal patients and caregivers may have an opportunity to make the national press :bigjoint:
 

TheMan13

Well-Known Member
I agree our primary goal is rescheduling. In a med state where the voters declared that cannabis does in fact have medicinal value. Our state officials should not get to rob use. Steal our children. Shoot our dogs. And then get paid.
Just sayin.
We need a campaign to force Holder to simply request the required HHS study and then act as Title 21, Chapter 13 clearly lays out. It is the clear bottleneck we face today, yet no one speaks of. Any thoughts on how this might be accomplished?

 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
I believe it is not the cannabis, but the scheduling that is the problem. In legalease there is literally no difference between Heroin, Cocaine and Marijuana today as far as the game of seizure is concerned.
I strongly disagree. It's the forfeiture laws themselves that have incentivised police to act like thugs.

Remove the power they never should have had- and under the Constitution (remember that ol' rag?) DON'T.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
I agree our primary goal is rescheduling. In a med state where the voters declared that cannabis does in fact have medicinal value. Our state officials should not get to rob use. Steal our children. Shoot our dogs. And then get paid.
Just sayin.
Rescheduling is not the problem. Overreaching appropriate police powers, forfeiture in clear violation of our Constitutional Rights, THOSE are the problems. As usual, pot is the symptom- and the scapegoat- not actually the problem.
 

TheMan13

Well-Known Member
Rescheduling is not the problem. Overreaching appropriate police powers, forfeiture in clear violation of our Constitutional Rights, THOSE are the problems. As usual, pot is the symptom- and the scapegoat- not actually the problem.
I believe you are incorrect, scheduling is exactly the problem. The use of force, search and seizure abused are all based upon the severity of a schedule I narcotics crime under the law. Given the current and wrongful classification of MJ today as criminal contraband, seizure does not even require that you are charged, no less convicted.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
I believe you are incorrect, scheduling is exactly the problem. The use of force, search and seizure abused are all based upon the severity of a schedule I narcotics crime under the law. Given the current and wrongful classification of MJ today as criminal contraband, seizure does not even require that you are charged, no less convicted.
I'm not sure I have to be wrong for you to also be right. I'd like to think we are both right. My point goes to the more basic constitutional underpinnings of narcotics law in the first place, it being an unreasonable infringement on the activities of free people, provided no one else is harmed.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Ok. Then where do u grab ahold?
Rescheduling is concrete
Another very good point.

I wonder why I never hear about any protest against RICO, or the appropriately Orwellian name of the 'Patriot Act'? Both of those, amid many more, are extremely damaging to the safeguard of a citizen's civil rights in the eyes of the law.
 

acutejunglerot

Well-Known Member
I believe it is not the cannabis, but the scheduling that is the problem. In legalease there is literally no difference between Heroin, Cocaine and Marijuana today as far as the game of seizure is concerned.
very true marijuana is consider schedule 1, controlled substances.
 
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