I’m an El Centro resident and have glaucoma. For the past two years I have been using medical marijuana to help lower the pressure in my eyes, and it has controlled it. I usually have to go to San Diego or Palm Springs to get it. Having one in the Valley helps save money and is less hassle from federal authorities. On Tuesday of last week (Sept. 7), I went to the dispensary and found that it was being raided. About 10 DEA agents with bulletproof vests were there. After a bit, one jumped into his SUV and took off pretty fast down State Street. Now what’s up with that? The lady there is doing everything legit, and the feds still treat her like she’s selling crack on the corner. — Smokeless, El Centro
We had high hopes for this PROBE question, but alas, the lack of a good answer has harshed our buzz.
Still, we’ve got some good stuff — not the kind kind — but enough to make it interesting.
We got confirmation from the El Centro police that local U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents did indeed raid the marijuana “collective” at 119 S. Fifth St., and they did so Sept. 7, the day the El Centro City Council was to mull extending its moratorium on banning dispensaries in the city. No vote was taken at that meeting, though.
ECPD knew about it as a law enforcement courtesy, but Cmdr. Jeff Mason said the department knows no details.
We attempted several times to contact the DEA’s office in both San Diego and El Centro, but we never got a callback from the right people by presstime.
What still makes this interesting, though, is the fact that the letter writer implies he was actively doing business with the “collective,” or at least attempting to when the raid was occurring.
If that is correct, then no wonder the raid was happening. Despite the fact that medical marijuana is legal in California, the collective is operating without a business license. The fact that the city has a moratorium on the books at the moment also means it cannot get one or even be open as a dispensary.
Basically, it’s just a storefront at this point, and any sales being conducted there would be illegal. And that’s no comment on the whole legality of medical marijuana; rather it’s a comment on illegally operating a business in the city.
That said, we don’t imagine the DEA was there to hand out tickets for not having a business license, but we don’t know the nature of the raid at this point.
The Fifth Street collective first came to our attention in July, when the Imperial County Narcotic Task Force raided the dispensary and seized several pounds of high-grade marijuana. No one was arrested.
At the time, the collective/dispensary was operating unlicensed.
By the way, the city will take up the moratorium issue again when the council votes whether to extend it Oct. 3. Dude, that could definitely be a bummer of a meeting.
Source: Imperial Valley Press
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