Pubdate: Thu, 30 Jan 2014
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Page: 1A
Copyright: 2014 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Authors: Eric Gorski and John Ingold

RAIDED POT SHOPS OPEN

Two Months After the Feds' Search of Medical Marijuana Outlets, One Is
Being Denied Recreational Participation.

Two months after the largest federal raids on the Colorado medical
marijuana industry, many of the operators involved are back in
business on a smaller scale, and one has been denied his attempt to
enter the state's recreational marijuana industry.

Several stores raided by armed federal agents have reopened. Some
cultivation warehouses that were swept clean are again filled with
marijuana plants. Nobody named in the search warrants has been
arrested or even publicly accused of wrongdoing. At least three of
those targets say they are baffled why the feds showed up at their
doors.

Federal law enforcement officials, meanwhile, have remained publicly
mum. The investigation is ongoing, they say.

State regulators, however, have taken some action against businesses
owned by one of the raid targets, Laszlo Bagi.

The state Marijuana Enforcement Division confirmed Wednesday it has
sent notices of denial to Bagi-controlled businesses that had sought
licenses to grow and sell recreational marijuana.

The division also said it had completed an investigation into his
medical marijuana operations and issued orders that may lead to
"sanction or actions" against those licenses.

Bagi, one of 10 people named as raid targets in a search warrant
obtained by The Denver Post, has maintained his innocence.

"If I did something wrong," he said, "I think I'd be in
jail."

The Nov. 21 raids struck at least 15 medical-marijuana shops,
cultivation warehouses and homes of people connected to the businesses.

Because federal officials have been so circumspect in discussing the
raids, it is difficult to gauge their full extent. But Bagi's attorney
has previously estimated that his client lost $1 million worth of
plants. The manager at another raided dispensary estimated that agents
seized $50,000 worth of inventory at his shop.

Many of those named as targets are tied to the VIP Cannabis dispensary
in Denver. The store's owners or their business associates either own
or have owned stakes in at least a half-dozen dispensaries, numerous
grow locations and a marijuana-infused products company in Denver,
according to city licensing records examined by The Post.

Despite the raid-which resulted not only in lost inventory but also
smashed windows - VIP's flagship location at South Federal Boulevard
and West Alameda Avenue reopened Dec. 11. Sean McAllister, the lawyer
for VIP co-owner Gerardo Uribe, said the store had an inventory made
up of a limited amount of marijuana that it was allowed under state
law to purchase from other dispensaries.

Another store tied to VIP - Grateful Meds in Nederland-reopened five
days after the raids. Other VIP-affiliated dispensary locations,
including one in northwest Denver and another off East Colfax Avenue,
remained shuttered this week.

Grateful Meds manager Joseph Taveras said in an interview that he
still has no idea why federal investigators targeted the businesses
and individuals associated with VIP.

"Never in the time I have been with these people have I seen something
that made me suspicious," Taveras said. "I think it is unfair what
they did to these people. I think they are the victim here."

Bagi, who said he owns a half dozen dispensaries around the state,
said all but a couple of his stores are open. He has also begun
growing again at the warehouse north of Boulder that federal agents
stripped of plants. Bagi said the only other thing investigators took
during the raids were computers.

He said agents didn't tell him why his operations were targeted and
said a Drug Enforcement Administration agent didn't seem to mind if
Bagi started up his business again.

"He said, 'I don't care if you start growing tomorrow,' " Bagi
said.

But, Bagi said, it will take until summer for his grow to be producing
as normal. In the meantime, he said he has laid off 40 people.

"The whole thing is insane," he said.

Federal officials said at the time that the raids were consistent with
a new Department of Justice policy to target state-legal marijuana
businesses only when they do things like sell pot on the black market
or link up with criminal organizations. The next day, sources told The
Post that investigators were looking into possible connections to a
Colombian drug cartel.

One person was arrested in connection with the raids - a 49year-old
Colombian national named Hector Diaz. He was charged, however, with a
weapons offense in an indictment that doesn't mention marijuana. His
trial is scheduled for May.

About 2 1/2 weeks after the raid, the state Marijuana Enforcement
Division and the city of Denver's Department of Excise and Licenses
announced they had launched a joint investigation into the targeted
businesses to determine whether any enforcement action was warranted.
State officials say they continue to investigate businesses and
individuals associated with VIP.

The raids also caused a change in how Grateful Meds' ownership is
registered with the town of Nederland.

Town records from last fall identified the dispensary owners as Uribe
and David Furtado, a Denver attorney who was also named as a target of
the raids. Furtado has denied wrongdoing.

After the raids, Nederland Town Clerk Michele Martin said she met with
Furtado, and it was agreed Uribe's name would be removed from
ownership. She said Furtado described himself as being named in the
raid document only because of his association with Uribe.

"I wasn't thrilled to hear there was a raid going on in our town,"
Martin said. "We'd just like to have good, solid operators up here."

Furtado said Wednesday he would like to sell the dispensary and get
out of the marijuana business altogether.

"I trust the federal government to do a thorough investigation, and I
trust them to make a right decision in this matter," he said. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D