Welcome to the Shroomery Message Board! You are experiencing a small sample of what the site has to offer. Please login or register to post messages and view our exclusive members-only content. You'll gain access to additional forums, file attachments, board customizations, encrypted private messages, and much more!
|
 veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 13,985
Loc: 
|
 [WA] Feds uncover opium poppy smuggling operation at Bellingham discount store
#13149967 - 09/05/10 08:46 AM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Feds uncover opium poppy smuggling operation at Bellingham discount store
September 2, 2010 - BellinghamHerald.com
Six men were arrested Wednesday, Sept. 1, on suspicion of intending to smuggle into Canada opium poppies that they allegedly picked up at a Bellingham discount store.
Immigrations and Customs and Enforcement agents tailed a vehicle containing four of the men as it drove to the Dollar Plus store in the 4100 block of Meridian Street.
Several of the men left the car and brought empty hockey bags into the store; a short while later they exited the rear of the store with full hockey bags, which they began to load into two vehicles, according to a police report read at the suspects' first appearance in Whatcom County Superior Court.
Agents stopped the men to question them, causing one to drop a bag and run back into the store, according to the report. Agents saw poppy bulbs and stems on the ground inside the store.
They received a warrant to search the store and the hockey bags and seized 200 pounds of dried poppies and more than $1,400 in cash, said Rick Sucee, commander of the Northwest Regional Drug Task Force, which assisted the agents in arresting the men.
One man, Pritpal Singh, 23, whose father owns the store, said opium poppies would be delivered to the store and were kept in boxes or bags underneath a counter, and customers could purchase them upon asking, according to the report.
He said the worth of the poppies quadrupled in Canada: A box that sold for $475 in the U.S. would sell for $2,500 in Canada, according to the report. Another man, Saajid Ali, told agents he was paid $500 to transport the drugs to Canada.
Agents arrested each man on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute it; they're identified as Saajid Ali, 18, Khoa Mach, 20, Zaman Pasha, 20, Brian Tran, 20, all of Surrey, B.C., and Pritpal Singh, 23, and Balraj Singh, 22, of Bellingham.
The arrests are the latest in a series related to opium-poppy smuggling that spans two counties and the international border.
On Aug. 13, Delta, B.C., police raided a flower shop and arrested a man on suspicion of possessing 3,600 opium poppy pods. Police made another raid in Chilliwack, B.C., on Aug. 23, when 60,000 plants were seized, according to the Vancouver Sun.
On Aug. 16, ICE agents saw a man, Harwinder Basar, 21, of Tacoma place a black bag filled with the poppies in Whatcom County near the U.S.-Canadian border. After he was arrested, he told agents he was paid $500 to transport the drugs to the border, according to charging documents filed in Whatcom County Superior Court.
On Aug. 26, drug task force agents in Skagit County arrested a Surrey, B.C., man on suspicion of possessing 115 pounds of poppies, which were hidden inside his semi-truck, according to the Skagit Valley Herald.
Lorie Dankers, an ICE spokeswoman, declined to comment on any connection between these arrests.
Sucee said the poppies are grown in arid climates and dried. They are commonly consumed by being crushed up and put into tea.
|
 Mike711
friend
Registered: 05/22/10
Posts: 208
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 1 month, 23 days
|
Re: [WA] Feds uncover opium poppy smuggling operation at Bellingham discount store [Re: veggie]
#13150184 - 09/05/10 09:53 AM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
|
|
i dont understand how this works is it just easier to make doda? is that why they dont make tar with it. 500$ to transport across country boarders really. and another thing when all of your people are getting popped with large quantities its time to shut down your operation. 20yrs old facing 25yrs to life on a 500$ job how long do you think it will take to get them to flip.
i bet if the government would have gave all those kids job training or some sort of education that would give them a chance to get a job that wont make them live in working poverty. all of these problems could be avoided, and it would be alot cheaper in the long run. all of these kids are going to get out of prison and be harder criminals than when they went in
|
arpnuke
Always changing
Registered: 09/11/06
Posts: 230
Last seen: 10 months, 19 days
|
Re: [WA] Feds uncover opium poppy smuggling operation at Bellingham discount store [Re: Mike711]
#13150543 - 09/05/10 11:11 AM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
|
|
So many poppy pod busts in such a short time! Canada, Washington, and Arizona. The DEA has a hard on for the quasi-legal pod trade.
Opiates are pretty fucked up drugs that frequently cause a lot of sadness, but it's disappointing to see the pod trade dry up. Pods went for lower prices and without the street violence of pharmaceuticals/dope. I'm afraid raids may be causing more harm than good.
|
Frizzle
ǝʌıʇɔǝdsɹǝd ןןɐ s,ʇı
Registered: 06/01/10
Posts: 858
Last seen: 1 year, 8 months
|
Re: [WA] Feds uncover opium poppy smuggling operation at Bellingham discount store [Re: Mike711]
#13150544 - 09/05/10 11:11 AM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
|
|
death penalty, the lot of em.
--------------------
Whistle your favorite tune when it's all said and done,
if your maker don't approve at least you know you've had your fun
| |
|
|
You cannot start new topics / You cannot reply to topics
HTML is disabled / BBCode is enabled
Moderator: veggie
1,032 topic views. 8 members, 65 guests and 1 web crawlers are browsing this forum.
[ Toggle Favorite | Print Topic ]
| | |
|
|
|
Previous
Index
Next
Threaded
Edit 
Reply 
