25 Marijuana Raids Underway in Denver

By Jeralyn, Section Colorado News
Posted on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 01:10:58 PM EST
Tags: marijuana reform (all tags)

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Starting at 6:00 am this morning, the DEA and other agencies began raiding 25 residences in Denver and nearby cities for marijuana. It's part of Operation Sweet Leaf. So far, more than 1,000 plants have been seized. A dozen people have been arrested, and 7 children have been turned over to Social Services. More arrests are expected.

Authorities say this has nothing to do with medical marijuana.

Investigators say the raids were on a single organization growing marijuana in Colorado and then shipping it to as many as eight other states. The DEA, U.S. Postal Service and IRS are all involved in the investigation as well. The investigation does not involved marijuana grown for alleged medicinal uses.

Update: The cases are being brought in state, not federal court. Charges include racketeering, money laundering and drugs.

Agencies involved:

The joint investigation included the North Metro Drug Task Force, Drug Enforcement Agency, Internal Revenue Service, United States Postal Service, South Metro Drug Task Force, Boulder County Drug Task Force, Adams County Sheriff’s Office, Weld County Sheriff’s Office, Denver Police Department Narcotics Unit and Summit County Sheriff’s Office.

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25 Marijuana Raids Underway in Denver | 41 comments (41 topical)

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7 children with Social Services? (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by Militarytracy on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 01:20:00 PM EST

Terrified...headed to hopefully the safe, but with what they pay them how could it be, foster establishment? Am I really paying for this $hit? Am I really paying for children to be put at risk like this among people that may or may not really give a $hit about them? Someone needs to be ashamed, and I'm sick of paying for this craziness too with dollars as well as the souls of children. Just what broke understaffed government agencies need to be responsible for, tender bodies and tender hearts and tender minds of people who weren't in danger until they got a hold of them.

You're paying for it and the parents haven't had (none / 0) (#2)
by republicratitarian on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 01:40:15 PM EST

a day in court yet.


Well (none / 0) (#3)
by jbindc on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 01:42:02 PM EST

Since it IS the law for now, I'd say shame on those parents for a)exposing their children to illegal drugs and b) taking the risk that their children could be taken away from them.


You Mean... (5.00 / 3) (#5)
by ScottW714 on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 01:50:45 PM EST

...if there are guilty ?

Not to point out the obvious, but I suspect a lot more people are employed in industries they would rather not be because of factors far beyond their control.

Maybe the risk of feeding their babies out weighted the risk of getting busted. Neither of us know, but I'm not the one making broad general assumptions about people's character without any evidence but proximity to a crime.


yes, I can see it now (2.00 / 0) (#28)
by TeresaInPa on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 03:58:06 PM EST

having to chose starvation or an eight state drug growing and shipping empire. Hmmmnnnn, which to chose which to chose. Surely there are no choices in between.


Seems to me (none / 0) (#8)
by jbindc on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 02:01:29 PM EST

That if Child Services goes into a house where they can see marijuana plants and paraphenalia, that's a pretty good reason to take the kids out, even if only temporarily.

I know that personal responsibility is not popular around here, but if parents can't be responsible enough to keep their kids away from something they know is an illegal substance, then maybe they need some time apart to think about their judgment.

And why do you assume this is like an episode of "Weeds", where the poor parents had no choice but to grow pot to support their family? Maybe they're just stoners.


why do you assume it isn't? (5.00 / 2) (#10)
by CST on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 02:09:30 PM EST

This is a pretty bad recession and a job is a job. If I had to choose between exposing my kid to pot or exposing them to hunger - personally I'd say that's not a hard choice. Lucky for me it will probably never come down to that. But if you think that poverty is not a real issue in play in the "drug war" than you may be inhaling something you're not aware of.

Personally I think a good gut-check for the criminal justice system would be "are these kids better off in foster care?" If the person is a murderer, I'd say absolutely. In this case I'd say absolutely not. If being exposed to pot is the worst thing that happens to them than they are the lucky ones.

Screaming law and order doesn't change the fact that it's a stupid law and a stupider order. And before you get all into the "oh the children! paraphenelia!" let me ask you this - did your parents ever drink booze around you? Do you accept that it's reasonable for people to keep booze in the house? I realize it's not illegal, but it is a drug. Seems to me like the only real problem here is the law.


Or Prescriptions... (5.00 / 1) (#20)
by ScottW714 on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 02:32:02 PM EST

...which are illegal to everyone in the house, but one.


fwiw, going to Catholic school exposed me to (none / 0) (#18)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 02:29:57 PM EST

many foster kids and foster families.

I'm not sure why we seem to be assuming foster families are, by default, no better than gulags, but the fister kids I knew generally seemed to really like their foster families and my parents said, back in the day, that these foster parents "were in it for all the right reasons." Maybe my friends were just lucky, I don't know.

Anyway, secondly, is all crime an acceptable response to an economic "need," or is it just this one?


That's all fine and good (5.00 / 1) (#21)
by Militarytracy on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 02:32:09 PM EST

Now talk about the ones that are horrible, cuz there are lots and lots and lots of those too. It is a crap shoot out there.


: Sure, as I said, maybe my friends were lucky. (none / 0) (#24)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 02:50:22 PM EST

And, as you said, it is a crap shoot out there. Could be even a middling foster care home is better than the homes these kids were in, who knows?
fwiw, I've written here a few times about a local HS kid who OD'd and died from heroin recently.
Well, one of the people arrested in the wake of the death was guy who supplied the drugs (happens to be the grandson of a famous actor) and the dealer's kids were taken to social services because of the "deplorably conditions" they were living in.
Now, I do not know, but I would bet that "deplorable conditions" did not mean a totally acceptable home except for the heroin, meth and pot under the bed.

by default, no (5.00 / 1) (#23)
by CST on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 02:44:14 PM EST

but too many of them are. I've seen the good with the bad. A little pot is not worth the risk of the bad.

Is all crime an acceptable response to economic need - no... but that being said, I think that you have to take it into consideration when examining the motive/punishment for a lot of crime. It's kind of the Jean Valjean thing. We can be reasonable about it. No one ever talks about the store owner who lost a loaf of bread but everyone pretty much agrees that stealing a loaf of bread isn't worth hard time. Now if he killed the store owner to get that bread, than it's a slightly different story. But I think for non-violent crimes, as a society we should take it into account when determining whether or not the punishment "fits".


It will be interesting to see the specific reason (none / 0) (#25)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 02:55:12 PM EST

the children were assigned to social services. As in my comment to MT above, maybe the parents growing/dealing/whatever pot is not the only reason.


: if there were actual deplorable conditions (5.00 / 1) (#26)
by CST on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 03:21:18 PM EST

fine.

What if the reefer... (none / 0) (#11)
by kdog on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 02:09:55 PM EST

is in a locked basement? And the bong is the parents bedroom closet?

Still grounds for a legal kidnapping in your view?


why not go back (2.00 / 1) (#29)
by TeresaInPa on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 04:06:37 PM EST

and read about the crime operation under investigation again and then come back and comment as if you weren't a rebellious 13 year old?
This is not about you and your right to get stoned. It is about children and their right to grow up raised by functional adults and not in danger.


: Crime to you maybe... (none / 0) (#41)
by kdog on Thu Jan 26, 2012 at 10:54:26 AM EST

to me it's a living...and a far more legitimate one than some "legal" ones.
The only dysfunctional adults I see here work for the DEA...maybe child services should check on their kids?

what if the whiskey is on a shelf (none / 0) (#12)
by CST on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 02:11:38 PM EST

in the kitchen?

Your kids might see it!


: What if the waitress puts a Jack and Coke (5.00 / 0) (#16)
by Militarytracy on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 02:28:00 PM EST

on the table and the toddler snatches it up like some superhuman baby and drinks the whole thing before we could get it away from him, cuz that happened too and we all decided it was just best that nobody go to jail :)

: Or aspirin... (5.00 / 2) (#17)
by kdog on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 02:28:03 PM EST

in the medicine cabinet...a kid might get in there, swallow a whole bottle and die.
At least with the natural remedy in question they'll just fall asleep, even in a large quantity. The legal sh*t all over the house can kill them.
I love jb but she is pissing me off...she's basically saying if I babysit I'm endangering my nieces...sh*t she's saying a large percentage of the parents in my extended family are unfit. Gotta admit that hurts a wee bit. Well it would hurt if it wasn't a total crock.

You're cold... (5.00 / 1) (#7)
by kdog on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 02:01:13 PM EST

think of the children jb!

Child abuse is what it is, absent proof actual harm was done to those poor kids being terrorized as we type. "Legal" child abuse...so it must be ok by your sometimes warped logic.


I AM thinking of the children (none / 0) (#9)
by jbindc on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 02:05:03 PM EST

Look, you don't have to agree with me, but this place sometimes turns into an echo chamber with choruses of "yes! Drugs are good! Government bad!"

And mostly intelligent people end up jibbering without actually seeing the whole picture and it turns into an episode like the Rush Limbsugh show.


I don't think you are jb... (5.00 / 2) (#14)
by kdog on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 02:19:31 PM EST

Damn right I don't agree with advocating for child abuse on the part of the state in the name of some stupid drug war.

I mean c'mon pal...you can't be that squarely cruel to be cool with this, I simply refuse to believe it. You're just being the contrarian for the sake of being contrarian.


Potheads raise good people too (5.00 / 1) (#15)
by Militarytracy on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 02:25:28 PM EST

I like how it is fine in our culture if some father who is psychopathic stockbroker sniffs coke off some stripper's a$$ all night every night, but a couple growing a pot plant in their home will be hauled to jail and THEIR children placed at risk.


: I don't think anyone (none / 0) (#30)
by TeresaInPa on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 04:39:06 PM EST

thinks the first is okay. And the 2nd is hardly what is being described here.

enough jbinc (5.00 / 0) (#31)
by Jeralyn on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 05:44:01 PM EST

This is a criminal defense site. You've made your point several times now.


My father has survived a head injury (5.00 / 2) (#13)
by Militarytracy on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 02:17:06 PM EST

I would say it is somewhat similar after he "recovered" (never fully) to what many of the soldiers are trying to survive that is labeled traumatic brain injury. So far they haven't found any drug that calms him when he gets confused and nervous. Most days he's cool though, remodels his house, remodels his garage. He just smokes some weed and NO legal drug can compare to how little it impairs him.

I'm the child of a pothead, and placing those children in danger in the system is the systems fault. Change the God Damned ignorant insane laws. And sorry, but how dare you think it is okay for kids to be treated this way just because their parents broke a "law", particularly one this ridiculous.


now I see (none / 0) (#32)
by TeresaInPa on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 06:57:26 PM EST

why this would seem personal to you. I am sorry to hear about your Dad.
But this situation seems very far from yours.


: I also worked juvenile probation (none / 0) (#34)
by Militarytracy on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 07:45:40 PM EST

back when my daughter was a baby and I was a single mom. As usual that whole area of servicing the community was so underfunded that I worked paid via a government grant to aid high risk kids. Some of my kids, they were pretty screwed up because of how NOT GREAT the foster system is. I have ZERO faith in any state's foster system. The people who open up their homes receive very poor payment, some do it out of kindness and don't really need the money but they are few and far between. Most are doing it because they can't make ends meet, their households are already highly stressed and now you are going to bring a very stressed out child that needs some loving care into it and they're barely scraping by before the kid even walks in the door? They certainly have no extra emotional security to share with someone they don't even share DNA with.

Not to Mention (none / 0) (#4)
by ScottW714 on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 01:45:17 PM EST

It will have absolutely no effect on the availability of weed in Colorado.

Drugs are so engrained in our culture, and the market is so efficient, that there is literally no bust that would make a noticeable difference to the supply.

IOW what is the point ?


fwiw, I think the name of the operation is (none / 0) (#6)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 01:54:13 PM EST

"Sweet Leaf."

If only SOPA had passed... (5.00 / 2) (#19)
by kdog on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 02:30:42 PM EST

into law, Black Sabbath coulda had the DEA shutdown while they sorted out the copyright of "Sweet Leaf".


: Ha! You're on a roll today! (none / 0) (#22)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 02:32:49 PM EST

yes, I fixed the post to (none / 0) (#39)
by Jeralyn on Thu Jan 26, 2012 at 12:29:01 AM EST

reflect that.


People get murdered just walking down the street (none / 0) (#36)
by Militarytracy on Wed Jan 25, 2012 at 07:50:24 PM EST

: I deleted the (none / 0) (#38)
by Jeralyn on Thu Jan 26, 2012 at 12:27:38 AM EST

comment you are replying to, I found it offensive. People are free to hold whatever beliefs they want, but they won't use this site to express them.

Insufficient information in the linked article (none / 0) (#37)
by oculus on Thu Jan 26, 2012 at 12:23:20 AM EST

to understand why the seven children were removed from the homes.

yup. (none / 0) (#40)
by nycstray on Thu Jan 26, 2012 at 02:18:32 AM EST

kids could have been in 'clean' homes and just taken in because both parents were taken in. Happens with pets also, owner gets hauled in, pet ends up in the pound.


I'd put my money... (none / 0) (#42)
by kdog on Thu Jan 26, 2012 at 10:56:08 AM EST

on that scenario...and its a sin to traumatize the kids like that...a god damn sin.

Hopefully there are relatives to care for the kids since their parents have been taken hostage. Lessen the damage done.


Not to mention... (none / 0) (#43)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Thu Jan 26, 2012 at 11:25:49 AM EST

the trauma of having masked, heavily armed stormtroopers busting into your house.

I'm sure that doesn't effect the kids at all...


: From the 9news link.... (none / 0) (#44)
by kdog on Thu Jan 26, 2012 at 11:32:14 AM EST

"It's just absolutely terrible conditions for kids. They're growing large plants in the rooms with these kids," Commander Jerry Peters with the North Metro Drug Task Force said.
Hmmm...some houseplants vs. armed home invaders....what's the "terrible conditions" again Commander Peters?
If that fool has kids I pity them.