18 Arrested In St. Patrick's Day Marijuana Raids

[bobandtorey]

SAGINAW COUNTY, MI -- Police raided nine homes and arrested 18 people on various marijuana charges Friday as part of a lengthy investigation.

Five people arrested were from Miami, Florida, one was from Colorado and 12 from the Saginaw area, according to the booking log for Saginaw County Jail, where all 18 were lodged.

The Bay Area Narcotics Enforcement Team, with help from other area law enforcement agencies, executed nine search warrants sometime Friday morning, March 17, said Michigan State Police Lt. David Kaiser.

 

Kaiser said the warrants and arrests were the result of a lengthy investigation. Kaiser did not immediately have further information about the investigation or the arrests.

According to the jail booking log, one of the Saginaw-area men arrested is accused of dealing or manufacturing roughly 11 to 100 pounds of marijuana, a seven-year felony.

All 18 people were arrested on charges of dealing or manufacturing some amount of marijuana, according to the jail log.

Four of them additionally face conspiracy or criminal enterprise charges.

At this time, it's not known if any of those arrested have been formally arraigned.

 

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2017/03/marijuana_bust_saginaw.html

[Restorium2]

Seems like I remember something that might be related because of the Miami connection.

 

This one;

 

http://michiganmedicalmarijuana.org/topic/51405-hundreds-of-plants-60-pounds-of-marijuana-seized-in-4-house-raid/?hl=%2Bcuban+%2Bmafia#entry573498

[briefcasejoe]

seems they learned the hard way that there are rats everywhere in michigan just like florida lol

wonder how many of them roll on the four facing criminal enterprise charges

[bobandtorey]

SAGINAW (WJRT) - (03/21/17) - Charges have been handed down in a drug case that spans two Mid-Michigan counties and involves more than 20 people.

Twenty-one people were named in a court documents related to the St. Patrick's Day drug bust.

The Bay Area Narcotics Enforcement Team raided nine homes during the raid. One was in Flint Township, the other eight were in Saginaw County.

As of Tuesday afternoon, only 18 people had appeared in a Saginaw County District Court to be formally charged.

The defendants included 14 men and four women, and range in age from 26 to 59 years old. They have been charged with selling or making marijuana and conspiracy.

One man faces an additional charge of resisting a police officer.

The two main charges come with penalties of up to 15 years in prison and/or a $1 million fine.

In court, some of the defendants said they were making and selling medical marihuana.

Saginaw County Assistant Prosecutor Chris Boyd says investigators are still trying to figure out if any of the defendants have a medical marihuana card. He adds even if they did, police believe they far exceeded any legal limits.

 

"Obviously, there's some claims that medical marihuana was involved. The statutes obviously have some prohibitions. And we're alleging in our complaints that those prohibitions were violated, and violated substantially," Boyd said.

Court documents show police found more than 200 marijuana plants, as well as more than 45 kilograms of finished product. Just to give you an idea of how much that is, 45 kilograms translates to just over 99 pounds.

Boyd cautions those are just preliminary numbers. He expects to have a better figure before the preliminary exam, which is scheduled for April 10.

There was an interpreter in the courtroom during the proceeding. None of the defendants speak fluent English. Many told police they were originally from Cuba.

Boyd says federal agencies have been contacted to determine if they are here legally, but their residency status doesn't impact the drug case at this point.

"The identification issue, it's really not a matter of our concern. You know, the federal authorities will do what they need to do in that regard. From our standpoint, we're only interested in prosecuting violations of state law," Boyd said.

Their unconfirmed residency status did play a role in bond. It was set at $1 million each.

Here are the names of those charged:

 

http://www.abc12.com/content/news/A-raid-in-Saginaw-lands-18-behind-bars-416570893.html

[Restorium2]

There was an interpreter in the courtroom during the proceeding. None of the defendants speak fluent English. Many told police they were originally from Cuba.

 

Nailed it! Cuban Mafia.

Edited March 22, 2017 by Restorium2

[briefcasejoe]

There was an interpreter in the courtroom during the proceeding. None of the defendants speak fluent English. Many told police they were originally from Cuba.

 

Nailed it! Cuban Mafia.

Just because they are from cuba they are cuban mafia?

[Restorium2]

Just because they are from cuba they are cuban mafia?

Not exactly. From some of my life experience, when you have crime from Miami, with Cubans involved, then it's usually Cuban Mafia. Organized crime in Miami usually has something to do with the Cuban Mafia. I wouldn't have known this either without having some experience dealing with it in the past. It came as a total surprise to me when I learned about it years ago. It's a long story and it doesn't have anything to do with marijuana.