With Starbucks gift cards, marijuana grow house bribed neighbors not to snitch

'Shoop: XJ.

"An alleged illegal marijuana grower reportedly showered his South of Market neighbors with coffee shop gift cards in an apparent attempt at keeping them quiet," reports the San Francisco Examiner.

His plans to keep the grow secret did not work: police say the man and three others were arrested Feb. 12 after a burglary call led officers to a clandestine grow (is there any other kind, under prohibition?) in a warehouse on Stillman Street.

The place reeked of pot (duh); the gift cards were evidently aimed at encouraging neighbors to hold their noses.

Of the accused grower, one neighbor said, "He drove an Audi and wore a cheap suit."

Ouch.

(via SFist, thanks, @tlrobinson)

• [Peter]

  Accept gift card.  Act all placated.

  Call in anonymous tip.

  Win-win.

  • [Jamie DiBattista]

    Who wins? The cops?  The prison-industrial complex? Its pot, not a meth orchard.

    • [Peter]

      I win.  I get a gift card, AND I get to not have to live near a criminal grow op.

      I’ve got nothing against marijuana, if I knew somebody had a few plants for their personal use, I wouldn’t care or bust them, but the people who buy houses just to grow marijuana in, and sell it elsewhere?  They’re not the type of people I’d like in my neighborhood, thanks.

  • [MB44]

    Cops frustrated they can’t obtain probable cause? Have informant call in attempted burglary at address they want to raid. What did the burglary suspect have to say about all this? What? There was nobody apprehended? What a shame! Well at least they have that huge pot bust that they randomly happened upon during this routine traffic stop!
    Jesus, this reeks like cops doing illegal shit as usual.

• [Sparrow]

  What are the odds that the burglary was one of the ones where nothing was taken and no further investigation was warranteddeemed to be necessary after providing a reason for stopping the car.

• [Chuck]

  Maybe the police will learn to be on the lookout for neighborhoods where people flaunt their $47 coffee drinks.

  • [Bradley Robinson]

    Nicely done.

• [semiotix]

  If a marijuana grower didn’t have the decency to at least try to bribe me with marijuana, I’d turn his cheap ass in too!

  • [Bradley Robinson]

    Or alternatively, a small percentage of the proceeds.

    • [Ipo]

       That sounds immoral. 

  • [welcomeabored]

    Bud only, of course.  Leaf would be an insult.

  • [Gilbert Wham]

    Exactly. ‘Dude, you’re basically growing money-trees and you’re bribing me with fucking free Starbucks?’

    • [marilove]

      I don’t think @boingboing-e4acb4c86de9d2d9a41364f93951028d:disqus  was concerned with how much money the marijuana could net them.

      • [Gilbert Wham]

         I know, yeah. But Starbucks? Bizarre.

        • [marilove]

          I know. I don’t get it either. Maybe they were selling the giftcards for cash? That’s actually possible, and far less risky than weed.

        • [L_Mariachi]

          And with a Blue Bottle not three blocks away!

  • [Abel Undercity]

    I can only be bribed with cash or the nectar of the coffee bean.  Everybody has their fix.

• [andreasma]

  And to think that just NORTH of market are the toxic derivative trader grow houses and toxic mortgage labs. Unfortunately, they can afford to buy more than Starbuks for the politicians who cover for them

  • [Hegelian]

     If only the sent of money laundering was probable cause to allow auditors to go through the books of corrupt financial institutions. Instead the fed lets them off with no criminal charges even when it catches them red handed knowingly laundering money for terrorists and drug lords. Whereas local policed have impounded suspect’s bail money under civil asset forfeiture. If you are big you are too big to jail, if you are small you can’t even post bail.

    • [welcomeabored]

      There’s lyrics for a blues song in there somewhere.

• [Preston Sturges]

  Why have a growhouse in an area with some of the most expensive electrical rates in the country? 

  • [Hegelian]

     You are assuming they weren’t stealing some or all of their electricity.

    • [Preston Sturges]

       Are Canadians better at stealing the “Hydro” for growing weed?

      Anyway, considering this area is likely to have “smart meters,”  I’m kind of surprised the electrical company did not raise the alarm the first time the grower flipped the circuit breaker and created a visible drain on that line.

      • [L_Mariachi]

        LED grow lights allow you to run an op with loads no greater than the commercial/light-industrial uses typical in that area.

• [Conan Librarian]

  This sounds like the plot to an episode of ‘Weeds’.