Big bust yesterday in Denver - Colorado - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums

-StashBastard- · 10-21-2006, 02:16 AM

Pot ring indictment

Multistate case focuses spotlight on Amendment 44

By Charlie Brennan, Rocky Mountain News
October 20, 2006
Nineteen days before Colorado voters decide whether to legalize possession of 1 ounce or less of marijuana, state and federal drug enforcers waded into the debate Thursday with the announcement of a high-profile drug-ring indictment.

Federal Drug Enforcement Administration personnel were joined by officials of several state jurisdictions to tout the results of Operation Berthoud, a 152-count indictment by a Denver grand jury of 38 individuals in an alleged multistate network trafficking in "BC Bud," a highly potent strain of marijuana.

The network, charged with moving 50- to 100-pound monthly shipments from Northern California and the Seattle area to Denver, is also alleged to have trafficked in ecstasy, developed sophisticated local growing operations, and armed itself with high-powered weaponry and bulletproof vests.

The indictment charges those named with operating in violation of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act. Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said it is the largest indictment, in terms of the number of individuals named, ever to originate in the Denver prosecutor's office.

Thirty-three of the ring's alleged members live in the Denver area or northeastern Colorado, while five are from Washington state. Its members were characterized as being mostly young adults of multiple ethnicities.

Officials said the probe leading to the indictment started more than a year ago in Weld County as an ecstasy investigation, and that the targeted ring was directed by a third-generation Vietnamese-American, Thanh Thea Hau, 22, who lived in Denver.

Hau, and 26 other people named in the indictment, had been arrested by late Thursday. It is alleged that Hau made about $150,000 a month in the enterprise.

The DEA identified him as part owner of the DC 10 nightclub in Denver.

In a news conference announcing the indictment, DEA Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey D. Sweetin brought up Colorado's proposed Amendment 44, before any reporter had done so.

"In the event that Colorado decides very soon that marijuana is OK in Colorado, there will be many more of these" organizations, Sweetin said.

"So I think this is something we need to consider. Anytime you have bulletproof vests, guns and counterfeiting, I think we have to look at that with our eyes wide open."

He conceded that no acts of violence are included in the indictment.

Sweetin, who has spoken out against Amendment 44 on several other occasions in recent weeks, was asked if there was any political significance to the timing of Thursday's news conference, given that 13 people named in the indictment were still at large when the news conference began.

"Most of the cases that we've put out in front of you don't have 100 percent arrests by the time" they are announced, said Sweetin, who cited a public duty to disclose why more than two-dozen people were suddenly behind bars.

"As far as it being a political announcement, I don't consider it a political announcement," he said.

"I consider it a real eye-opener for people that believe marijuana operates different than organized crime. So, to that extent, is it a message? It wasn't timed to be a message, but, yeah, I think it's a message."

Messages weren't hard to come by Thursday, as outside the DEA offices, Mason Tvert, campaign director of SAFER, which is backing the Amendment 44 initiative, held a counter news conference of his own.

Tvert saw a direct connection between the announcement of the indictment - which had been returned Sept. 27 - and the vote that looms Nov. 7.

"They're doing everything they can to scare people off, voting against an initiative that otherwise they would possibly be voting for," Tvert said.

Tvert argued that alcohol has been tied to many more acts of violence than marijuana.

He claimed that the timing of Thursday's news conference at the DEA, so close to Amendment 44 going to the voters, was a sign that the amendment's opponents smell defeat.

Operation Berthoud

• Indictment returned: Sept. 27 in Denver County

• Individuals named: 38, including 33 from Colorado and five from Washington state

• Alleged ringleader: Thanh Thea Hau, 22, Denver, facing 59 drug trafficking counts. He could serve more than 100 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

• Method of alleged distribution: 50-to-100-pound shipments by car from northern California and the Seattle area to Denver, where it would be sold by multipound or half-pound quantities, sometimes in public settings such as the Tamarac Square area. The pot was valued at $3,000-to-$4,000 per pound, because of its high potency.

• Number arrested: By late Thursday, 27 of the 38 had been placed in custody.

• Seized in the one-year investigation: 95 pounds of high-grade marijuana, three indoor growing operations including 414 plants valued at $3.3 million, more than 1,500 tablets of MDMA (ecstasy), about $704,000 in cash and assets including more than a dozen vehicles.

• Agencies involved: The Federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the Denver District Attorney's Office, the Front Range Task Force and the Weld County Task Force

https://www.rockymountainnews.com/drm...080504,00.html

whiskeyriot · 10-21-2006, 03:29 AM

AWW SHIT, i leave grandma in charge for the weekend while i go away on business AND THIS CRAP HAPPENS

CaNNiBisPaTienT · 10-21-2006, 03:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whiskeyriot

AWW SHIT, i leave grandma in charge for the weekend while i go away on business AND THIS CRAP HAPPENS

she must have smoked too much weed and forgot to move the van like in Good Fella's

sogman · 10-21-2006, 04:10 AM

Man that suck's those guy's coulda gone bulk and all of colarado would have been a stoner's wasteland! I want herb to infest every household in the america's and shroom's are good too!

sogman · 10-21-2006, 04:12 AM

I like the pic at the top. The court will know who the naughty stoner's in the room are, cause they cant keep their eyes off those buds!

sogman · 10-21-2006, 04:17 AM

$250 an ounce $4000 a lb, 50 lb's = $200 000 tax deductable

NoNameNoshame · 10-21-2006, 04:24 AM

Haha, BC bud being a strain, that's funny, guess schwag is two.

$150,000 a month that's $1,800,000 a year, not bad for 22, should kept the greed under control.

It's a shame, being illegal it is simply merchandise not healing cannabis to the enemy.

And that enemy will always be our shadow!

SpacedCWBY · 10-21-2006, 04:32 AM

I love how they're helping demonize the poor canadians. That damned 'ol "BC BUD". Then they make it seem like they were an international terrorist ring with a HUGE armory of weapons and bullet proof vests. I'd wear a vest too if I were in their line of work. Those government sharp shooters are good at what they do.

ColoraDro · 10-21-2006, 06:40 AM

yes they are tryin to stop us, But there are 2 many of us!

keep it green

grandmesajoker · 10-21-2006, 06:48 AM

Bastards! make sure all you CO people vote!! this bill will be a large step

10-21-2006, 02:16 AM	#1
-StashBastard- Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Colorado Posts: 444	Big bust yesterday in Denver Pot ring indictment Multistate case focuses spotlight on Amendment 44 By Charlie Brennan, Rocky Mountain News October 20, 2006 Nineteen days before Colorado voters decide whether to legalize possession of 1 ounce or less of marijuana, state and federal drug enforcers waded into the debate Thursday with the announcement of a high-profile drug-ring indictment. Federal Drug Enforcement Administration personnel were joined by officials of several state jurisdictions to tout the results of Operation Berthoud, a 152-count indictment by a Denver grand jury of 38 individuals in an alleged multistate network trafficking in "BC Bud," a highly potent strain of marijuana. The network, charged with moving 50- to 100-pound monthly shipments from Northern California and the Seattle area to Denver, is also alleged to have trafficked in ecstasy, developed sophisticated local growing operations, and armed itself with high-powered weaponry and bulletproof vests. The indictment charges those named with operating in violation of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act. Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said it is the largest indictment, in terms of the number of individuals named, ever to originate in the Denver prosecutor's office. Thirty-three of the ring's alleged members live in the Denver area or northeastern Colorado, while five are from Washington state. Its members were characterized as being mostly young adults of multiple ethnicities. Officials said the probe leading to the indictment started more than a year ago in Weld County as an ecstasy investigation, and that the targeted ring was directed by a third-generation Vietnamese-American, Thanh Thea Hau, 22, who lived in Denver. Hau, and 26 other people named in the indictment, had been arrested by late Thursday. It is alleged that Hau made about $150,000 a month in the enterprise. The DEA identified him as part owner of the DC 10 nightclub in Denver. In a news conference announcing the indictment, DEA Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey D. Sweetin brought up Colorado's proposed Amendment 44, before any reporter had done so. "In the event that Colorado decides very soon that marijuana is OK in Colorado, there will be many more of these" organizations, Sweetin said. "So I think this is something we need to consider. Anytime you have bulletproof vests, guns and counterfeiting, I think we have to look at that with our eyes wide open." He conceded that no acts of violence are included in the indictment. Sweetin, who has spoken out against Amendment 44 on several other occasions in recent weeks, was asked if there was any political significance to the timing of Thursday's news conference, given that 13 people named in the indictment were still at large when the news conference began. "Most of the cases that we've put out in front of you don't have 100 percent arrests by the time" they are announced, said Sweetin, who cited a public duty to disclose why more than two-dozen people were suddenly behind bars. "As far as it being a political announcement, I don't consider it a political announcement," he said. "I consider it a real eye-opener for people that believe marijuana operates different than organized crime. So, to that extent, is it a message? It wasn't timed to be a message, but, yeah, I think it's a message." Messages weren't hard to come by Thursday, as outside the DEA offices, Mason Tvert, campaign director of SAFER, which is backing the Amendment 44 initiative, held a counter news conference of his own. Tvert saw a direct connection between the announcement of the indictment - which had been returned Sept. 27 - and the vote that looms Nov. 7. "They're doing everything they can to scare people off, voting against an initiative that otherwise they would possibly be voting for," Tvert said. Tvert argued that alcohol has been tied to many more acts of violence than marijuana. He claimed that the timing of Thursday's news conference at the DEA, so close to Amendment 44 going to the voters, was a sign that the amendment's opponents smell defeat. Operation Berthoud • Indictment returned: Sept. 27 in Denver County • Individuals named: 38, including 33 from Colorado and five from Washington state • Alleged ringleader: Thanh Thea Hau, 22, Denver, facing 59 drug trafficking counts. He could serve more than 100 years in prison if convicted on all counts. • Method of alleged distribution: 50-to-100-pound shipments by car from northern California and the Seattle area to Denver, where it would be sold by multipound or half-pound quantities, sometimes in public settings such as the Tamarac Square area. The pot was valued at $3,000-to-$4,000 per pound, because of its high potency. • Number arrested: By late Thursday, 27 of the 38 had been placed in custody. • Seized in the one-year investigation: 95 pounds of high-grade marijuana, three indoor growing operations including 414 plants valued at $3.3 million, more than 1,500 tablets of MDMA (ecstasy), about $704,000 in cash and assets including more than a dozen vehicles. • Agencies involved: The Federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the Denver District Attorney's Office, the Front Range Task Force and the Weld County Task Force https://www.rockymountainnews.com/drm...080504,00.html Last edited by -StashBastard-; 10-21-2006 at 03:11 AM..
	Quote

10-21-2006, 03:29 AM	#2
whiskeyriot Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 119	AWW SHIT, i leave grandma in charge for the weekend while i go away on business AND THIS CRAP HAPPENS __________________ My First And Current Grow.... Lowryder 1.... https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=39058
	Quote

10-21-2006, 04:10 AM	#4
sogman Dignified Toker! Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Under a beautiful sun! Posts: 354	Man that suck's those guy's coulda gone bulk and all of colarado would have been a stoner's wasteland! I want herb to infest every household in the america's and shroom's are good too! __________________ "I am engulfed, and drown deliciously Soft music like a perfume, and sweet light Golden with audible colours exquisite, Swathe me with cerements for eternity. Times is no more. I pause and yet I flee. A million ages wrap me round with night. I drain a milion ages of delight. I hold the future in my memory. Also, I have this garret which I rent, This bed of straw, and this that was a chair, This worn-out body like a tattered tent, This crust, of which the rats have eaten part, This pipe of opium; rage, remorse, despair; This soul at pawn and this delirious heart." Arthur Symons (1865-1945)
	Quote

10-21-2006, 04:12 AM	#5
sogman Dignified Toker! Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Under a beautiful sun! Posts: 354	I like the pic at the top. The court will know who the naughty stoner's in the room are, cause they cant keep their eyes off those buds! __________________ "I am engulfed, and drown deliciously Soft music like a perfume, and sweet light Golden with audible colours exquisite, Swathe me with cerements for eternity. Times is no more. I pause and yet I flee. A million ages wrap me round with night. I drain a milion ages of delight. I hold the future in my memory. Also, I have this garret which I rent, This bed of straw, and this that was a chair, This worn-out body like a tattered tent, This crust, of which the rats have eaten part, This pipe of opium; rage, remorse, despair; This soul at pawn and this delirious heart." Arthur Symons (1865-1945)
	Quote

10-21-2006, 04:17 AM	#6
sogman Dignified Toker! Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Under a beautiful sun! Posts: 354	$250 an ounce $4000 a lb, 50 lb's = $200 000 tax deductable __________________ "I am engulfed, and drown deliciously Soft music like a perfume, and sweet light Golden with audible colours exquisite, Swathe me with cerements for eternity. Times is no more. I pause and yet I flee. A million ages wrap me round with night. I drain a milion ages of delight. I hold the future in my memory. Also, I have this garret which I rent, This bed of straw, and this that was a chair, This worn-out body like a tattered tent, This crust, of which the rats have eaten part, This pipe of opium; rage, remorse, despair; This soul at pawn and this delirious heart." Arthur Symons (1865-1945)
	Quote

10-21-2006, 04:24 AM	#7
NoNameNoshame Banned Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 413	Haha, BC bud being a strain, that's funny, guess schwag is two. $150,000 a month that's $1,800,000 a year, not bad for 22, should kept the greed under control. It's a shame, being illegal it is simply merchandise not healing cannabis to the enemy. And that enemy will always be our shadow!
	Quote

10-21-2006, 04:32 AM	#8
SpacedCWBY Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Back to the sands of time from a short lived hiatus. Thank god... Posts: 1,316	I love how they're helping demonize the poor canadians. That damned 'ol "BC BUD". Then they make it seem like they were an international terrorist ring with a HUGE armory of weapons and bullet proof vests. I'd wear a vest too if I were in their line of work. Those government sharp shooters are good at what they do. Last edited by SpacedCWBY; 10-21-2006 at 04:34 AM..
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10-21-2006, 06:40 AM	#9
ColoraDro Certified Dro Star Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Denver Posts: 598	yes they are tryin to stop us, But there are 2 many of us! keep it green __________________ Dro's #PrivateStock TrainWreck & Jock Horror Show! The Chemdog Cup 2006
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10-21-2006, 06:48 AM	#10
grandmesajoker Toker Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 301	Bastards! make sure all you CO people vote!! this bill will be a large step
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