541 Syndicate Part 2

An excerpt from a story written by Adán Germán for Borderland Beat

 

In 1996, California became the first state to legalize the possession and consumption of marijuana for medical use, with a doctor's recommendation. By 2012, sixteen US states had legalized the medical use of marijuana for certain physical ailments, and in some states, specific mental issues.

However, marijuana was still considered illegal under federal law, and according to the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug, claiming it has a high potential for abuse and has no acceptable medical use.

By 2012, every state on the US West Coast had legalized the medical use of marijuana, and the states of Washington and Colorado had legalized recreational use for anyone over the age of 21. Legalization was coincided by precipitous declines in the wholesale price, as well as demand in general. Young people in Seattle and San Francisco were no longer willing to pay $100 for a quarter ounce of green bud, when it was readily available by the pound through just about any college kid from a rural county. Legalization clearly had it's advantages, but also forced the Díaz family to reevaluate their business model.

Fortunately a few cousins from Chicago had connections on the streets of Pilsen and Little Village who would take as much high-grade "kush" as possible, as long as it was on a front [on credit]. Early on they tried boxing up 10-20 pounds at a time and sending it by Fedex or UPS, but this was quickly found to be an indiscreet method with severe limitations on the amount of product that could be moved every month. This problem was exemplified when a package containing 2.5 pounds of marijuana was tracked from Northern California to the home of a Cincinnati Bengals player in suburban northern Kentucky in 2011.

By 2006 SUV's with out of state license plates were rolling into the South Side with 200 pounds of high-grade marijuana carefully packaged and boxed for transport at $500,000 a load. However, this method also proved troublesome, because a dozen 16 pound boxes in the back of an SUV were raised immediate suspicion if any law enforcement contact was made, no matter how carefully the smell was covered up.

The group lacked the resources to start their own commercial tractor-trailer trucking company, especially since there was little demand for this service in the rural mountains. So, they rented and purchased box vans or covered pickups that could easily carry up to a ton of product, while remaining fairly inconspicuous.

As marijuana became legal, grower shifted from rugged and shady mountain canyons, to verdant farmland

However, the Northern routes on Interstates 80 and 90 proved perilous. In 2009 a woman was pulled over 100 miles east of Salt Lake City on Interstate 80 with 400 pounds in the back of pickup covered by a fiberglass canopy. The fact that the search was conducted without probable cause allowed her to avoid a lengthy jail sentence after pleading guilty. Continues next page

One driver made it all the way to Joliet in a box van, when he realized he needed gas. He supposedly failed to signal, and Joliet city police made a large seizure. In 2011 a Diaz cousin was detained on Interstate 90 in South Dakota with more than 300 pounds in the back of a U Hall truck. He faced up to 25 years in state prison, but was able to cut a deal for 6 months in county lockup in exchange for a guilty plea. The lawyer charged $50,000 for his services.

 

In 2009, some relatives uninvolved in the family business were arrested in Boise, Idaho with 15 pounds of Marijuana from Southern Oregon. They received 3-5 years, and their children remained in Idaho state foster care for a year before the grandparents in California regained custody.

The next year, Adán Díaz's brother-in-law was arrested in Northern Idaho on Interstate 90, literally pulled over as he crossed the Washington state line. The back seat and trunk divider had been removed from the rented car, and police found close to 100 pounds of high-grade marijuana when they searched the car. His bail was set at $1 million, while those accused of violent crimes, such as child rape, in the same jail had their bail set at $250,000.

No bail bondsman was willing to post a bond without 100% collateral, preferably real estate. When DEA agents arrived at the home he and his girlfriend shared, she was shocked that this accomplished professional chef, who had never even had a speeding ticket, was accused of being a drug runner.

While the supply of people able to run loads began to dwindle, the Díaz family faced another problem. The DEA and state narcotics agents had begun to find ways to raid their farms, even when they had less than 100 plants. State law allowed a grower with 96 plants to possess up to 24 pounds of "usable marijuana", and for years the feds had been unable to prove how much a plant actually weighed, until they raided a farm, seized the plants, dried them, and then weighed the processed marijuana.

After several such raids, federal authorities were confident that any farm with a high number of large plants would be found out of compliance. The feds began to raid Díaz satellite farms, and found 400 pounds, 600 pounds, or even 1,000 pounds was not an unusual yield for 96 plants. To make matters worse, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division subpoenaed bank records, and found that these farms were grossing well over $1 million a year, EACH. The feds were particularly quick to point out that this was just the cash deposited into bank accounts.

With their pool of drivers being whittled down to local college girls, who may or may not be trusted to keep their mouth shut, and their pool of growers ending up under indictment, the Díaz family slowly found themselves with nobody to turn to, except the local rednecks and hippies they

Read part one link here
Part Three link here