BPD, DEA Bust Local Headshops for Conspiring to Sell Drug
Paraphernalia. Investigation continues into sales of Spice.
This release pertains to a year-long investigation involving
Boise Police and the Federal Drug Enforcement
Adminsitration.
from the US Department of Justice, United States Attorney,
District of Idaho
Sixteen People Indicted Federally for Conspiring to Sell
Drug Paraphernalia in Treasure Valley "Headshops"
Multiple Search Warrants Executed Today
"Criminal organizations that
masquerade as legitimate storefronts to sell drug
paraphernalia to our children will not be
tolerated,"
Boise, May 10, 2012 - Fourteen of sixteen people
charged yesterday with conspiracy to sell and offering to sell
drug paraphernalia were arrested this morning by federal, state and
local law enforcement, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.
The federal grand jury in Boise returned eleven separate
indictments yesterday containing the drug paraphernalia charges.
All of the indictments alleged sales of drug paraphernalia at
retail establishments.
The sixteen defendants named in the federal indictments are:
• Bradley Berquist, 30, owner/operator of Twenty After, and co-owner Gabriel Adam
Busby, 37, of Boise;
• Thomas Blumke, 38, owner/operator of Other World Gallery, LLC, and manager Crystal
Blumke, 32, both of Horseshoe Bend, Idaho;
• Yoke Fee Chan, 31, of Boise, owner/operator of Royal Smoke, LLC;
• Hannah Farrar, 24, of Boise, manager of Piece of Mind;
• Ali Mayid Kathem, 27, of Boise, employee of One Stop Smoke Shack;
• Antonio Mendoza, 33, of Eagle and Jennifer Dixon, 38, of Boise, employees of All
Sunshine, LLC;
• William Oldenburg, 65, of Eagle, owner/operator of Boise Beverage and Tobacco and
Pit Stop Express, and Donovan Johns, 37, of Meridian, Idaho, co-owner/operator of
Boise Beverage and Tobacco;
• Troy A. Rawlings, 32, of Meridian, president of RG Distributing, Inc., which owns
the Smoke Shack and Smoke Shack 2, and company treasurer Jason Guerrero, 33, of
Boise;
• Adam Schreiner, 25, of Boise, owner/operator of Bernen's Pipe Shop, LLC;
• Raj V. Singh, age unknown, of Boise, owner/manager of Wonderland Hookah and
Tobacco Shop; and
• Anthony Stoner, 33, of Eagle, Idaho, owner/operator of Smoke-N-Accessories.
Guerrero and Johns are the only two not yet in
custody. Warrants for their arrest are
outstanding. Oldenburg and Jones are also charged with conspiracy
to structure financial
transactions. Structuring is manipulating financial transactions
to evade currency reporting
requirements imposed on financial institutions. It is unlawful to
cause a trade or business to fail
to file the required report, or to structure a transaction with
the intent to evade the reporting
requirement.
The eleven indictments, which were unsealed by the court this
morning, are the result of a
multi-year Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force
investigation named "Headshop -
Not for Human Consumption," which focused on the illegal sale of
drug paraphernalia and the
sale of "spice". In the spring of 2011, the Idaho Legislature
criminalized the sale of specific
compounds of synthetic cannabis, often called "spice". In March
2011, the Drug Enforcement
Administration placed five synthetic cannabinoids into the
Schedule I of the Controlled
Substances Act. "Spice" is a general term that refers to synthetic
cannabis, which is a
psychoactive herbal and chemical product. When consumed, it mimics
the effects of cannabis.
According to the indictments, the retail establishments, which
are commonly referred to as "headshops," are businesses
engaged in the unlawful sale of drug paraphernalia to drug
users and drug traffickers. According to the indictments, the
drug paraphernalia were typically sold under the guise of
"tobacco products," or with claims of other "legitimate" uses.
Drug paraphernalia included glass, metal, wooden and ceramic
smoking pipes/bongs, bubblers, water pipes, vaporizers and
grinders. In connection with the ongoing investigation,
multiple federal search warrants were served this morning on
thirteen Treasure Valley headshops. According to the search
warrant affidavits, nine of the thirteen businesses were
openly selling "spice". Those businesses included Boise
Beverage and Tobacco, One Stop Smoke Shack, Royal Smoke, Smoke N
Accessorys, Smoke Shack, Smoke Shack 2, the Pit Stop, All
Sunshine, and Wonderland Hookah. The search warrant affidavits
stated that undercover law enforcement personnel purchased
substances from area headshops that tested positive for
AM-2201, one of the substances that the Drug Enforcement
Administration has determined is a controlled substance
analogue.
"The open sale of drug paraphernalia promotes unlawful drug use
and helps drug
traffickers thrive," said Olson. "These indictments and the
ongoing investigation show that the
United States Attorney's Office and its federal, state and local
law enforcement partners will
attack drug trafficking on all fronts."
"Criminal organizations that masquerade as legitimate
storefronts to sell drug
paraphernalia to our children will not be tolerated," said Drug
Enforcement Administration
Special Agent in Charge Matthew G. Barnes. "The DEA, along with
our federal, state and local
partners will continue to use every resource available to pursue
those responsible."
"IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) is committed to fighting the war
on drugs in conjunction
with our law enforcement partners," said Lilia Ruiz, Acting
Special Agent in Charge of IRS
Criminal Investigation for the State of Idaho. "CI has the
financial investigators and expertise to
disrupt these organizations and deprive them of their illicit
gains."
"This investigation and the execution of these search
warrants should send a strong
message that if you're selling Spice under any name or packaging -
you need to stop," said Boise
Chief of Police Michael Masterson. "Citizens have been very
helpful in calling the department
with information on where these substances are sold. Parents have
called after they found their
teens buying this stuff. Undercover officers have purchased the
substances that tested positive
for banned chemicals. Boise Police detectives hear from users that
chemicals used to make these
substances are as addictive as meth and heroin. We've seen young
people in our community
rushed to emergency rooms after smoking these substances. These
chemicals are proven
dangerous, that's why we will continue to invest resources in
investigations. The Boise Police
Department very much appreciates the assistance of our law
enforcement partners in making
these investigations happen. The health and safety risks posed by
these substances don't respect
jurisdictional lines. We'll also continue to work to educate
citizens that these substances are
dangerous and can't be tolerated in a community that values the
health and safety of its citizens."
The charges of Conspiracy to Sell, Offer for Sale, and Transport
Drug Paraphernalia;
Offering Drug Paraphernalia for Sale; and Sale of Drug
Paraphernalia are each punishable by up
to three years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to
one year of supervised release.
The indictments include a forfeiture allegation. In addition to
the conspiracy charges, Oldenburg
and Johns also face up to ten years in prison, a maximum fine of
$500,000, and up to three years
of supervised release, for conspiracy to structure financial
transactions.
Operation Headshop - Not for Human Consumption
includes the cooperative law enforcement efforts of the Drug
Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue
Service-Criminal Investigation, Boise Police Department, Ada
County Sheriff's Office, Canyon County Sheriff's Office, Nampa
Police Department, Meridian Police Department, and the Canyon
County Prosecutor's Office. The U.S. Marshals Service and
Idaho State Police provided assistance in
arresting the defendants named in the indictments. An
indictment is a means of charging a person with criminal activity.
It is not evidence. The person is presumed innocent until
proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.