Sheriff's Bust "Drug Trafficking Organization"

Sheriff's Bust "Drug Trafficking Organization"



Story Created: Oct 12, 2010 at 3:29 PM PDT
Story Updated: Oct 12, 2010 at 5:33 PM PDT


Santa Barbara- After a year long investigation, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Narcotics Unit has dismantled what they are calling "a large scale marijuana trafficking organization."

Authorities served search warrants at seven separate locations in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. The following was located and seized at the Santa Barbara and Santa Maria locations:

*over 900 active marijuana plants. (Indoor and outdoor) Outdoor could yield over 4 lbs per plant. Rarely seen in SBSO history.
*over 300 pounds of processed/bagged marijuana for sales.
•over 50 pounds of hash.
•28 five pound containers of hash oil, full hash/hash oil conversion lab (worth several million dollars street value).
•over $125,000.00 cash, a 2010 Porsche Panorama, nine motorcycles seized pursuant to State Asset Forfeiture laws.

Authorities also made several arrests. They say the prime suspect, Erik Bjorklund, was growing marijuana at his residence in the 2900 block of San Marcos Pass Road. Additionally, Bjorklund also had a property in the Tepusquet Road area of Santa Maria where he was growing marijuana with another suspect, Kelsey O’Reilly.

The investigation found that Bjorklund was exploiting Proposition 215 / Senate Bill 420 and selling mass amounts of marijuana throughout Southern California for profit.

Also according to a Sheriff's press release, an additional business partner of Bjorklund’s, Jeffrey Vines of Ojai, was allegedly found to be bottling large quantities of a liquid mixture with alcohol and cannabis for Bjorklund. He was also found to be a high-risk sex offender on active CDCR Parole with GPS monitoring. A large amount of suspected child pornography was located at Jeffrey Vines’ residence in Ojai.

Here is a list of the suspects and the charges, according to the Sheriff's Department.

Erik Bjorklund DOB: 09/02/55 (of Santa Barbara)
35 counts of Money Laundering; and additional charges including sales/transportation of marijuana. Cultivation of Marijuana, as well as Child Endangerment.

Rachel Ziemer DOB: 09/19/86 (of Santa Barbara)
Booked on charges of Sales and Transportation of Marijuana, and Possession of Marijuana for Sales

Jeffrey Vines DOB: 07/24/48 (of Ojai)
Booked on Felony Parole Violation, Cultivate Marijuana, Conspiracy, and Possession of Child Pornography

Christopher Hawkins DOB: 12/14/50 (of Santa Barbara)
Booked on Marijuana Sales,Cultivate Marijuana, and Conspiracy

Kelsey O’Reilly DOB: 08/02/77 (of Santa Barbara)
Booked on Marijuana Sales, Cultivate Marijuana, 15 counts of Money Laundering; and Conspiracy

David Ziemer DOB: 09/18/57 (of Santa Barbara)
Booked on Marijuana Sales, Cultivate Marijuana, and Conspiracy

Kevin Howe DOB: 12/11/69 (of Santa Maria)
Booked on Cultivate Marijuana, and Conspiracy

Alina Stillwell DOB: 02/28/86 (of Santa Maria)
Booked on Cultivate Marijuana, and Conspiracy

Ryan Brown DOB: 09/03/83 (of Santa Maria)
Booked on Cultivate Marijuana, and Conspiracy

This is a crazy read.

It doesn't say that they worked through a dispensary or collective, so I'm curious if this was just a straight up "conspiracy" how this plays out.

it was medical

it was BIG nice grow company it sounds like. It is also a shame they have to mess with this guy. It seems like the only thing he wrong is be successful at something the government wasn't getting to tax the ever living shit out of, and helps people think as individuals.

I'd LOVE TO Get My Hands On That

I'd LOVE TO Get My Hands On That

HOLY SHIT: 28-5 pound containers of Hash Oil, Being a connoisseur of "OIL" back in the day. "I'VE SEEN SOME OIL". I had a connection up in Wassenaar, Holland that I got my Oil from back in the 70s, (came in off a ship always). This cat had it bottled in the little Jagermeister bottles.
"140 POUNDS of Oil" Unimaginable Really. Im wondering if the containers they were in were part of the weigh, I bet they were.
Ya know, 4 lb container and 1 pound of oil, (and THAT would still be a lot of oil) I just cant stop thinking about that. 140 pounds of oil. Dam
(Hey Hash Zeppelin, Whats Going On My Brother?)

Go big or go home! Sad thing is 99.9% of the time a snitch put him on the radar. Damn shame. Seems like he got money so he should be able to get a good attorney. Here's some good karma their way.

Hope those guys get off but that Jeffrey Vines character needs his pedophile ass locked up for a good long time. That's somebody that you don't need associated with the movement AT ALL. Pedos and rapists would be gettin put in the chair if I had my way

If Prop 19 passes, this sort of thing will never happen again. Apparently, all those cannabis users who oppose Prop 19 don't really give a shit about who else gets busted. As long as they feel safe and have everything they need. Others going to jail is preferable to government regulation and paying a tax.

Prohibitionist: Someone who is not affected by prohibition, and couldn't care less about those who are.

Nobody should be jailed for pot, but with the election coming up, were being associated with sex-offenders and Porsche driving capitalists, and who wants to be associated with that knd of scum?

if 19 passes, its still illegal federally and I bet the DEA would love to have one of those 'photo showcases' where they show all the seized drugs, just gallons upon gallons of hash oil, pounds stacked in a little mountain, ill gotten gains (porche panamera and motorcycles included, not to mention the houses they grow in all seized)

lol I'm all for legalization but 19 is just gonna change the badge people... you think they will just check in on people like this, check the paperwork, make sure they have all their forms in order, then leave with a wave? hahahaha.

I can see big timers thinking "oh 19 made it legal, lets buy 100 acres", only to have the DEA come by a month before harvest. Then you'll all be crying about how its not fair that the DEA can enforce federal law when state law says "have fun".... If you guys seriously think that 19 is so black and white already you clearly haven't been hassled by cops....

if 19 was law today, these guys still would have gotten hassled.

Edit: It really really sucks that some people got prosecuted over this shit, I would love it if they walked free, hell I just had one of my co op partners catch a bullshit charge and now he's dealing with the legal system over a single GRAM! They gray areas in regulating prop 215 are what got him busted... hence my hatred for laws that are VAGUE


I would love straight up full on legalization, 19 ain't it...

change Cannabis to a schedule 3, if not lower, and regulate it like tobacco or produce, thats legal.

Baby steps you say? well this baby step shouldn't have the word "legal" in it, because its far from 'legal' under 19. decriminalized in CA alone perhaps, but still not legal.

900 plants, 500 pounds....no need to do it that big. props to them but still....doing it that big is just asking for trouble..and driving a brand new 2010 porsche aint the smartest either. DEA loves free sports cars from drug dealers...

you dont need that much weight to make a living. you can move 100 # a year and still be well off. these guys were way to greedy plain and simple.

and the pedo...dont get me started. thats faulty on their part too....

overal i feel bad the cops are fucking with these guys, but i dont have that much sympathy because they were greedy stupid and had a pedo in their network...

Tony Aroma said:

If Prop 19 passes, this sort of thing will never happen again. .

Click to expand...

come on thats a pipe dream...if anything this is gonna happen MORE after 19...because theres gonna be a shitload of people coming to cali to set up shop so they can pump pounds back into their non-med states. 19 would help them in court, but all they gotta do is press fed charges and the 19 safety net is torn apart...

Yes4Prop215 said:

If Prop 19 passes, this sort of thing will never happen again.

Click to expand...

come on thats a pipe dream...if anything this is gonna happen MORE after 19...because theres gonna be a shitload of people coming to cali to set up shop so they can pump pounds back into their non-med states. 19 would help them in court, but all they gotta do is press fed charges and the 19 safety net is torn apart...

Click to expand...

ding ding ding! we have a winner!


what have we got for em Johnny?!


ever seen someone get their "legal 215 MMJ defense" ripped apart in court? I have..

google James Stacy

Zen Master said:

if 19 passes, its still illegal federally and I bet the DEA would love to have one of those 'photo showcases' where they show all the seized drugs, just gallons upon gallons of hash oil, pounds stacked in a little mountain, ill gotten gains (porche panamera and motorcycles included, not to mention the houses they grow in all seized)

lol I'm all for legalization but 19 is just gonna change the badge people... you think they will just check in on people like this, check the paperwork, make sure they have all their forms in order, then leave with a wave? hahahaha.

I can see big timers thinking "oh 19 made it legal, lets buy 100 acres", only to have the DEA come by a month before harvest. Then you'll all be crying about how its not fair that the DEA can enforce federal law when state law says "have fun".... If you guys seriously think that 19 is so black and white already you clearly haven't been hassled by cops....

if 19 was law today, these guys still would have gotten hassled.

Click to expand...

Nobody knows how the feds are going to react to prop 19, but even with only state support it is better than any other laws anywhere. This is the first step to getting what we all (most of us) want.

I haven't heard the feds say boo about it and they may just let it slide. They may see this as an opportunity to test what we have been saying for years and years about violent crimes and restricting access to children. It may simply just be left to go it's course. This may be seen by the federal government as a way to get out of the INCB treaties without "wanting" to get out. Anything at this point is conjecture, and we will only know the truth if people vote yes. I doubt if any of us fully understand the politics behind this, and as we are seeing with even Arnie, you can't vocally get behind these things without potentially burning your ass.

If the feds wanted to stop prop 19 they would have been outspoken by now about it and made threats to dissuade people from voting for it don't you think? Maybe there are people in power who agree that it is time for the DEA to start focusing on harmful addictive drugs.

I know a lot of that is "cup half full" thinking, but unless the DEA is going to hire a few thousand more agents, the personal growers and the users will be safe with 19. That is a HUGE step in the right direction.

Jed

First the states pass their laws then the Feds will change their's that's how it's gonna work. Prop 19 is the first measure on the STATE level to totally decriminalize MJ, it is just a step towards the ultimate goal, it is not the end all be all of cannabis legislation.

Seems that most of the busts we hear about are just guys getting too big, and too greedy. You don't poke the sleeping lion with a spear and expect it to not wake up, right?

The feds have already said (re: Prop 19) that "Anywhere large amounts of marijuana are being grown, we want to know about it."

I don't feel sorry for these giant growers who make millions a year, they got greedy and are paying the price. When you get busted you don't get to keep it anyway, so what's the point? They over-produce and drive market prices down, so every small grower in California subsidizes these large grows by losing a cut to them, price-wise.

You know that all this "we don't know whats going to happen after 19" stuff is crap. Lets just go off of what they have started in the last couple of months. They are busting people more and more. Period. They are sending a message right now. If and when 19 passes they are going to go nuts. They will bust people. Small, large, it won't matter. I personally still don't like 19. We should have waited until more than 50% of the state had medical and where collecting taxxes from it. Then we could have moved to the next level. Now the feds will have no choice. Once again I say that Prop 8 was stuck down and Prop 19 will be as well. I don't really like the idea that many from out of state are coming to california and there only reason is to grow out here. Fuck you. Stay out of the state. Deal with your local government and get medical in your area. Just like the hard fight that we have had to get this done out here. This is all just my personal feeling on the matter and I am not trying to hurt anyones feelings.

Zen Master said:

ding ding ding! we have a winner!


what have we got for em Johnny?!


ever seen someone get their "legal 215 MMJ defense" ripped apart in court? I have..

google James Stacy

Click to expand...

use a motion of dimisal using the Garden Grove Vs the people of california

also you can use the same motion for a return of property with no problem...


If prop 19 passes you better believe a lot of this shit will stop, as we the people voted for it, and if they go against the people, they will have a lot of angry voters non smokers or users.


also they only go after Huge fish. you can be a big grower here and still be far under the radar if ur smart and dont become a hot rod trying to be cool, driving porchs.

another prime example of people getting rich off the sick, when they could of provided this at a low cost, with a non profit tag too!! pay there taxs, and follow the law, they wouldnt of had this problem


with prop 19 passes, other states will follow... and it will be just a matter of time, before we the people tell the government, enough is enough!!!

Grendelkhan said:

You know that all this "we don't know whats going to happen after 19" stuff is crap. Lets just go off of what they have started in the last couple of months. They are busting people more and more. Period. They are sending a message right now. If and when 19 passes they are going to go nuts. They will bust people. Small, large, it won't matter. I personally still don't like 19. We should have waited until more than 50% of the state had medical and where collecting taxxes from it. Then we could have moved to the next level. Now the feds will have no choice. Once again I say that Prop 8 was stuck down and Prop 19 will be as well. I don't really like the idea that many from out of state are coming to california and there only reason is to grow out here. Fuck you. Stay out of the state. Deal with your local government and get medical in your area. Just like the hard fight that we have had to get this done out here. This is all just my personal feeling on the matter and I am not trying to hurt anyones feelings.

Click to expand...

how do you expect them to go after every small grow? we have over 10,000,000 people in california alone.

they do not have the man power. Impossible. but if people are making 6 digit figures off it, sure, u are on the radar. dont let fear, decide your vote, this is exactly what they are trying to do.....

Yeah.....did you note that this 'Nonce' (kiddy-fiddler).....was wearing a GPS tracking device?

.....maybe his probation officer tracked him to the grow after following him in his new Porsche Panamera?

....don't sound like they were too smart to me...