At least 14 medical-marijuana dispensaries across Thurston, Pierce and King counties were raided on Tuesday 15 November 2011, in the largest such sweep since Washington voters approved medical marijuana in 1998.[1] More than a dozen people were arrested overall: at least 13 on state drug-dealing charges in Thurston County, where cash and marijuana were seized from shops in Olympia, Lacey and Grand Mound, while officers in Pierce County served search warrants but made no arrests.[1]
In Seattle, teams led by the Drug Enforcement Administration hit the Seattle Cannabis Co-op in Crown Hill and Seattle Cross on Capitol Hill as part of four ongoing investigations; a search-warrant affidavit accused both shops of drug dealing and money laundering, describing a confidential informant buying five pounds of marijuana for $11,000 at the co-op.[1] The US Attorney said the targeted shops hid behind the medical-marijuana law to make illegal sales, in some cases to people who were not patients.[1]
The Associated Press later reported that about 20 storefronts had been raided by the DEA that November, and that no federal criminal charges immediately resulted from the 2011 searches of four of the shops.[2]
