Controversy swirls in major pot bust
Jul,02/04
Stories now differ as to how 4,000 marijuana plants were discovered by authorities
By Paul T. Rosynsky and Robert Gammon
OAKLAND -- Controversy and confusion surrounding the largest pot bust in city history continued Thursday as federal agents filed criminal complaints against four Bay Area residents while the defendants' relatives and medical marijuana advocates insisted the arrests were bogus.
Conflicts between the California Highway Patrol and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration also surfaced as each agency gave differing accounts of how almost 4,000 marijuana plants were discovered in a West Oakland warehouse.
CHP officials insisted the huge marijuana bust was the result of a routine traffic stop that led them to the nearby warehouse. But in a sworn federal complaint filed Thursday, the Drug Enforcement Administration said the raid was made during a CHP stakeout/canine training exercise in the same block as the growing operation.
Regardless, the bust brought the arrests of four people: Jesse Nieblas, 31, of Alameda; Jacek Mroz, 26, of San Leandro; Heleno Araujo, 32, of Concord; and Celeste Angello, 28, of Santa Clara.
Because the CHP called in federal agents instead of other local law enforcement agencies to investigate the case, the four defendants face federal minimum prison sentences of 10 years, along with $4 million fines.
Also being investigated is Thomas Grossi, 59, owner of the warehouse at 2638 Market St. CHP investigators searched Grossi's Pleasant Hill pawnbroker business and his Lafayette home.
Grossi, who once owned a pawn shop next door to medical marijuana clubs in Oakland's "Oaksterdam" neighborhood, said in the past he supports both the clubs and medical marijuana laws.
He was convicted nine years ago of selling an ounce of cocaine to an undercover informant and offering to sell marijuana, court records show. He served three years of probation.
CHP Lt. Rob Patrick said investigators found legal pistols and long shotguns in the Pleasant Hill and Lafayette searches. Another search at Nieblas' house found "a small amount of pot," he said.
Although Patrick said "there is no indication whatsoever (the marijuana) was going to be used for medical purposes," advocates for its medical use, those arrested and their relatives said otherwise.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration complaint, Nieblas said during an interrogation "he had a legal right" to distribute the pot. And Angello told agents "she was previously employed by the Compassionate Caregivers Club," a medical marijuana dispensary.
In addition, Elizabeth Mroz, sister of Jacek Mroz, told the Tribune her brother was working with medical marijuana and was "authorized" to do so.
"... If CHP would have done a little bit more investigation, they could have worked this out," said Angel McClary Raich, a medical marijuana advocate who is now battling U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Bush administration in the U.S. Supreme Court over the federal government's campaign against medical marijuana. "I think the CHP made some errors by jumping the gun and calling the DEA right away."
Oakland Police Chief Richard Word, whose officers played only a minor role in the raid, said his department's protocol requires a measured approach when officers find a marijuana-growing operation.
"We basically take a go-slow, call a commander and investigate," Word said. "I'm not quite sure why (the CHP) called the DEA."
Word, however, acknowledged the magnitude of the West Oakland growing operation raises suspicions that not all of the cannabis may have been intended for medicinal purposes.
City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente (Fruitvale-Glenview), who has made no secret of his distaste for the growth of medical marijuana clubs in Oakland, said he is "happy the Highway Patrol and the DEA" were involved in the case.
De La Fuente disputed claims the warehouse had the blessings of the city, as some medical marijuana advocates contend. The growers, according to De La Fuente and the CHP, did not have the proper documents as required by city law.
Under Oakland's medical marijuana ordinance, a growing collective may have up to 72 indoor plants for every patient it supplies and must have documentation to prove it. The law is silent, however, on where that marijuana can be grown.
But in this case, Oakland's ordinance is meaningless because the CHP called in the federal government, which contends marijuana is illegal regardless of its intended use.
Raich said she believes the Drug Enforcement Administration targeted the West Oakland operation as part of its campaign against medicinal marijuana. Administration spokesman Richard Meyer said he "could neither confirm nor deny" allegations the agency knew of the grow before Wednesday's bust.
According to the agency's version of events laid out in a seven-page affidavit by special agent Adam Zirkelbach, the CHP told him it had received "numerous complaints from neighborhood residents of a strong odor of marijuana" from the warehouse in the weeks before the bust.
The CHP then decided to conduct a canine training operation in the same block as the warehouse Wednesday, the affidavit said. After a CHP sergeant smelled pot coming from the building during the exercise, officers set up surveillance.
That's when the CHP saw a white truck leave the warehouse and make an "unsafe lane change," the affidavit said. Nieblas was driving the truck and told officers he was delivering "cafe supplies." He allowed officers to search the back, where they later discovered 503 small marijuana plants, according to the affidavit.
CHP Lt. Rob Patrick, however, disputed the Drug Enforcement Agency's version of events, calling it "not accurate."
"Apparently, somewhere there was a miscommunication," he said.
Patrick maintained the bust was serendipitous -- a result of a simple traffic stop by an alert patrol officer. "We had no prior knowledge," Patrick said.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration affidavit, CHP officers nabbed Mroz as he was driving his Ford Mustang from the warehouse. Officers said they caught Araujo and Angello running from the scene.
Patrick said the fact they ran away was a tell-tale sign the operation was illegal. While admitting running away may not have been a smart move, Raich argued the growers were probably scared they were being chased by the CHP, not Oakland police, who must abide by the city's medical pot law.
tag: Staff writers Kristin Bender, Laura Counts and Sean Holstege contributed to this report.
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