DEA RAIDS GREEN CROSS IN TORRANCE, MAKES SEIZURES

Affidavit says federal officials believe the medical marijuana
facility director and his brother are common drug dealers.

Federal agents raided a controversial medical marijuana dispensary in
Torrance on Thursday, seeking evidence that could lead to criminal
drug dealing charges against its owners.

Workers at a nearby business said about 18 police and federal Drug
Enforcement Administration officers blocked the entrances to the
Green Cross of Torrance's parking lot at 22926 Hawthorne Blvd. at
about 2:30 p.m. Then about half a dozen officers in vests and helmets
approached the dispensary with guns drawn.

"They were walking like cats," said one of the workers, who asked not
to be identified. "And then they said, 'Open the door! Open the door!' "

According to a DEA affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Los
Angeles to support a search warrant, investigators suspect Green
Cross director Rafael Chavez and his brother, Edward Chavez, are
common drug dealers, committing crimes including possession and
distribution of marijuana.

"Though (Green Cross) purports to sell marijuana to individuals
solely for medicinal reasons, there is probable cause to believe that
the location sells marijuana to individuals who do not have any
medical condition," Special Agent Joseph Bryson wrote in his affidavit.

No arrests were made during Thursday's raid.

Reached for comment, Rafael Chavez said he had little knowledge of
the search and reiterated that his co-op was established to offer
safe access to marijuana for medical purposes.

"For the most part, I don't know what's going on, but I do think it's
not good for all these patients that are relying on this," Chavez
said. "It's legal in California, and I'm being harassed by federal agents."

During the past few weeks, investigators put the business under
surveillance. Bryson said he watched the business from 3:39 to 5:18
p.m. on Oct. 5, seeing 15 customers exit the Green Cross with brown paper bags.

Many of the customers parked a long distance away and walked, then
"looked in all directions as they walked from the dispensary," the
affidavit said.

"Of the 15 customers I observed, none appeared to be seriously ill or
physically impaired," Bryson wrote. "One of the customers carried a
cane, though he appeared to use the cane only when he came in close
proximity to (Green Cross)."

On Oct. 10, a team of agents and police officers watched 25 customers
come and go from the co-op in two hours. A police officer pulled over
each customer as they drove away.

The affidavit said male and female customers admitted to buying
various types and quantities of marijuana ranging from $55 to $70 for
an eighth-ounce. One man, the document said, bought one-quarter ounce
of marijuana for $140.

One customer, identified in the document as Raymond Buckey, told the
officer who stopped him that he had just bought five different kinds
of marijuana in eighth-ounce increments at $70 each, and showed the
officer five green vials containing marijuana, the document said.

Authorities could not confirm whether Buckey was the former Torrance
resident who came to fame in the 1980s in the McMartin Pre-School
molestation case in Manhattan Beach.

Torrance's only marijuana dispensary brought controversy the moment
it opened in April.

As a result of Proposition 215, passed by state voters in 1996,
California is among a handful of states that allow doctors to
recommend marijuana for specific medical ailments, including cancer,
anorexia, chronic pain and AIDS.

But the possession and use of marijuana remains illegal under federal
law, creating some confusion for local municipalities. Federal law
contends marijuana has no medicinal value.

Given conflicting policies, medical marijuana supporters argued over
the summer that Torrance should side with the will of the state
voters who passed the so-called Compassionate Use Act.

Others, however, insisted Torrance should not knowingly license any
business that violates federal drug laws.

The Torrance City Council voted unanimously Aug. 1 to deny business
licenses to cannabis co-ops and other establishments that violate federal law.

At the time, a police spokesman said there were no imminent plans to
shut down the local dispensary. But, city officials said, come
December all businesses seeking to renew their licenses would have to
sign declarations affirming they don't violate federal, state or local laws.

Chavez told the Daily Breeze in August that he wasn't sure what would
happen to his co-op in the meantime. He added that he had every
intention of working with the city.

DEA spokeswoman Sarah Pullen said her agency's investigation is not
related to the Torrance city controversy or California laws. "We
served a federal search warrant," Pullen said. "Marijuana is a
Schedule I controlled substance and is illegal."

According to the search warrant affidavit, the Green Cross listed 28
different strains of marijuana for sale on its Web site. "The menu
also included marijuana edibles and topical lotions," the agent
wrote. "Entries as recent as Oct. 13, 2006, indicated that Green
Cross of Torrance is still operating as a marijuana dispensary."

Pullen said she did not know what agents seized from the business.
The search warrant said agents sought marijuana, derivatives, edible
products containing marijuana, and paraphernalia used for its
cultivation, including high-intensity lights, nutrients, fertilizers
and irrigation equipment.

Investigators also sought paperwork and computers.