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<b><span style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 100%;">Uncle Sam
orchestrates Vancouver <span style="color: green;">pot</span> busts</span><br>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 100%;">'Prince of <span
style="color: green;">Pot</span>' Marc Emery Nabbed in Halifax: <br>
Seed shipping business shut down by police</span> <br>
<br>
<br>
Brad Badelt and Amy O'Brian; With Files From Richard Chu and Jennifer
Miller <br>
Vancouver Sun <br>
<br>
<br>
July 30, 2005<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
CREDIT: Ian Lindsay, Vancouver Sun <br>
<i>While pot advocate Marc Emery was being <br>
arrested in Halifax, his supporters gathered <br>
outside his Hasting Street store to protest <br>
the U.S.-directed raid on the premises with <br>
signs and flags. </i> <br>
<br>
<br>
Pot
advocate Marc Emery was arrested Friday in Halifax after his
marijuana-seed shipping business on Hastings Street was shut down by
police as part of a sweeping investigation instigated by U.S.
authorities.<br>
<br>
Vancouver police raided Emery's
multi-million-dollar business on a request from the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA), while angry protesters gathered
outside chanting "Go home USA."<br>
<br>
Emery, 47, referred to as "The Prince of Pot" on the search warrant,
was arrested by the RCMP and police in Halifax.<br>
<br>
He
is charged in the U.S. with several drug-related charges, including
conspiring to distribute marijuana seeds and launder money.<br>
<br>
Gregory
Keith Williams, 50, and Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, 34, both alleged to
be involved in the long-established business, were also arrested in
Vancouver on similar charges.<br>
<br>
Tempers flared in Vancouver Friday
when four protesters were arrested after attempting to block a police
van loaded with seized goods from Emery's company, Mark Emery Direct,
which is located in a storefront at 307 West Hastings.<br>
<br>
The store also houses the office of the B.C. Marijuana Party and Pot-TV.<br>
<br>
Chris
Bennett, manager of Pot-TV, said he was working in Emery's Vancouver
office Friday morning when two undercover Vancouver police officers
approached him.<br>
<br>
"I was on the phone and these guys walked in --
they looked like hippies or something -- and they told me to hang the
phone up," Bennett said.<br>
<br>
"I said, 'What's this all about?' and they said they were the VPD."<br>
<br>
Bennett was told to leave the premises while police began their search
and seizure.<br>
<br>
"They just sent me out," he said. "They didn't even search my body."<br>
<br>
The
search warrant included all records pertaining to the Marc Emery Direct
seed-selling business, including client lists, invoices and employee
records from as a far back as September 1995.<br>
<br>
Police took down
storefront signs and covered the windows with paper, while about 25
chanting protesters banged on makeshift drums outside.<br>
<br>
Two American flags were hung upside-down on a nearby fence.<br>
<br>
"This
is a place where people could pull out a joint and not have to fear
being reported to the police, and that was okay with Canadians," said
David Malmo-Levine, who was one of the four protesters later arrested.<br>
<br>
"It's really an attack on our sovereignty."<br>
<br>
The
search was requested by the U.S. government through the Mutual Legal
Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, a federal law administered by the
Department of Justice.<br>
<br>
The warrant was authorized Thursday in B.C.'s Supreme Court, based on
an affidavit provided by a Vancouver police officer.<br>
<br>
U.S. authorities say the warrant was the result of an 18-month
investigation of Emery's international seed-selling business.<br>
<br>
The
investigation involved about 38 DEA offices across the U.S. and
allegedly linked marijuana seeds sold by Emery to indoor grow
operations in several states, including New Jersey, Michigan and
Florida.<br>
<br>
Jeff Sullivan, assistant U.S. attorney, alleged Friday
during a news conference that more than 75 per cent of the seeds sold
by Emery were sold to people in the U.S., and Emery was making about $3
million a year selling seeds and marijuana-growing equipment.<br>
<br>
"He is a drug dealer," Sullivan said of Emery, who has been in business
since 1994.<br>
<br>
"The
fact is, marijuana is a very dangerous drug. People don't say that, but
right now in America, there are more kids in treatment for addiction to
marijuana than every other illegal drug combined."<br>
<br>
Sullivan said Emery is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison.<br>
<br>
U.S.
authorities have requested that Emery remain in custody until
extradition proceedings are concluded, but Sullivan conceded it could
be many months before Emery actually arrives in the U.S. to face the
charges.<br>
<br>
"We anticipate that it could be anywhere from six months to two years
before he is in America facing charges," Sullivan said.<br>
<br>
Vancouver
police spokesman Const. Howard Chow said Friday the Vancouver drug
squad was involved in the investigation for the past 12 months, after
U.S. DEA officials provided information about Emery's alleged dealings
in the U.S.<br>
<br>
Chow confirmed there were no Canadian charges laid.<br>
<br>
Asked
why Vancouver police hadn't arrested Emery earlier, Chow said that
"simply because a person is selling seeds is not enough."<br>
<br>
The Vancouver police needed more substantive information, Chow said,
which the DEA recently provided.<br>
<br>
"It was a matter of priorities and resources."<br>
<br>
Halifax police spokesman Const. Mark Hobeck confirmed that Emery was
arrested Friday afternoon outside Halifax.<br>
<br>
"Once
Vancouver's end of the investigation was done today, our members were
notified and he was placed under arrest," Hobeck said.<br>
<br>
Hobeck said Emery will be remanded until arrangements are made to
transport him to Vancouver.<br>
<br>
Emery's lawyer John Conroy, who had not yet spoken with his client,
said he was preparing for the extradition defence.<br>
<br>
"Presumably
they are arresting him in order to extradite him to the U.S. to face
charges there," Conroy said, adding that an extradition hearing would
be based on Canadian law.<br>
<br>
"The whole plant is unlawful to
possess, but there are exceptions . . . for non-viable seeds and
stalks, which I believe is mainly for the hemp industry," Conroy said.<br>
<br>
"Viable seeds are prohibited, non-viables are not, but I think it has
yet to be determined what that distinction is."<br>
<br>
Last
year, Emery pleaded guilty to trafficking marijuana -- after being
caught passing a joint -- and was sentenced to 90 days in jail in
Saskatoon.<br>
<br>
The Vancouver property that was searched Friday is
registered as the home of the B.C. Marijuana Party and does not have a
business licence, according to City of Vancouver spokesman Paul Heraty.<br>
<br>
"There's
a bookstore and a Pot-TV [station] on site and we've accepted their
claim that the profits from those two businesses go towards the
political party," Heraty said.<br>
<br>
According to the Marc Emery
Direct website, it is the largest marijuana seed bank in the world,
carrying some 534 strains from a variety of breeders.<br>
<br>
Conservative MP Randy White said he was not surprised by the Hastings
Street raid and arrests.<br>
<br>
"Emery gets arrested all too often," he said, suggesting that the
punishment for drug offences in Canada is often to weak.<br>
<br>
"It's
serious and that's why they [the U.S.] are doing something about it.
Our government tends to sit back and wait for a catastrophe."<br>
<br>
NDP
MP Libby Davies said the arrests go against the views of most
Canadians, who support decriminalization of marijuana. (A 2004 survey
of 1,000 Canadians by SES Canada Research Inc. found 57 per cent were
in favour of decriminalizing the use of small amounts of the drug. The
survey is considered accurate within three percentage points, 19 times
out of 20.)<br>
<br>
"I think it's very disturbing that the Vancouver
police department is raiding a local business and arresting people for
the U.S. war on drugs," she said.<br>
<br>
"It feels to me like the long arm of U.S. enforcement reaching into
Canada."<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:bbadelt@png.canwest.com">bbadelt@png.canwest.com</a>, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:aobrian@png.canwest.com">aobrian@png.canwest.com</a><br>
<br>
HOW IT UNFOLDED<br>
<br>
-
Early 2004: U.S. probe begins into Marc Emery's international
seed-selling business based at 307 W. Hastings. Nearly 50 Drug
Enforcement Administration offices involved including New Jersey,
Michigan and Florida.<br>
<br>
- Mid-2004: Vancouver Police Department becomes involved in
investigation.<br>
<br>
-
Warrant request: U.S. makes warrant request in B.C. court under a
treaty that deals with matters under the Mutual Legal Assistance in
Criminal Matters Act.<br>
<br>
- Thursday: Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm of B.C. Supreme Court
issues search warrant.<br>
<br>
-
Friday: Emery arrested in Nova Scotia where he is to attend Hemp Fest
2005 in Lawrencetown. Two others arrested in Vancouver raid. Hastings
store searched.<br>
<br>
- Next: Emery's extradition to U.S. will be sought. American officials
expect a six-month to two-year process.<br>
<br>
Ran with fact box "How It Unfolded", which has been appended to the end
of the story.<br>
<br>
© The Vancouver Sun 2005</b><br>
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