Raid and arrest
Vancouver police raided the pot-seed store and headquarters of the B.C. Marijuana Party run by Marc Emery, 47, on 29 July 2005 on a warrant issued from Seattle and executed on behalf of the United States government.[1][2] Emery himself was taken into custody in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the same day by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Halifax police.[1][2]
A federal grand jury in Seattle had indicted Emery on 26 May 2005 after an 18-month investigation into marijuana seeds he sold in person, over the internet and by mail; the DEA says his seeds were traced to illegal crops in nine American states and that about three-quarters of them went to the United States.[1] American officials allege Emery sold as much as $3 million in seeds through Marc Emery Direct, running since 1994, and describe him as the largest distributor of marijuana seeds.[1][2]
Emery and two Vancouver co-defendants, Gregory Keith Williams and Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, face conspiracy charges over distributing marijuana and marijuana seeds and laundering money, carrying 10 years to life in prison, and the United States asked Canada to extradite all three to Seattle.[1] “They’re taking him down to face charges in the United States of America,” said Chris Bennett, who works for Emery and was in the raided office, calling the American sentences far harsher than Canada’s.[2]
