62 indicted in Denver "Toker Poker" marijuana trafficking ring
Colorado's attorney general announced on 28 June 2017 the indictment of 62 people and 12 businesses in Operation Toker Poker, the largest illegal-marijuana bust since legalisation, with 2,600 plants and 4,000 pounds seized across five states. Forty-three people had been arrested and 19 were still at large.
🇺🇸 Denver area, Colorado · Colorado, United States
On 28 June 2017 Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman announced the indictment of 62 people and 12 businesses in Operation Toker Poker, the largest illegal-marijuana trafficking bust since Colorado legalised the drug in 2014.[1][2]A Denver grand jury had handed up the indictment on 9 June against a ring that grew marijuana in Colorado and sold it out of state for millions of dollars over several years.[1]Forty-three of the 62 people charged had been arrested, with 19 still at large, and investigators seized 2,600 illegally cultivated plants and 4,000 more pounds of marijuana.[1]
The ring
Many of the defendants knew each other from high school and played poker together, which gave the operation its name.[1]Former Denver Broncos players Erik Pears and Joel Dreessen were swindled after investing, believing the grow was legal.[1]The ring operated across the Front Range as well as in Kansas, Texas, Nebraska, Ohio and Oklahoma.[1][2]“We believe these seizures only scratch the surface of the illegal drugs produced by this organization over time,” Coffman said.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
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