Deputies raid marijuana dispensary and arrest three
| Wednesday, May 06 2009 05:56 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, May 06 2009 09:14 PM
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Kern County Sheriff Department and DEA agents served a search warrant at Green Cross Compassionate Care Givers medical marijuana cooperative Wednesday afternoon at Bernard and Inyo streets in east Bakersfield.
Just a week or so after word spread that local marijuana dispensaries are starting to reopen in Bakersfield the local sheriff's office has raided one and arrested three men.
Kern County deputies and officials with the DEA served a search warrant Wednesday at the Green Cross Compassionate Co-Op at 309 Bernard Street in east Bakersfield.
They arrested three men, Albert Juarez, 40; Adam Romero Valenzuela, 27; and Brandon Neal Luck, 24. All three were booked on charges of selling and possessing marijuana as well as conspiracy.
Deputies said they also found two pounds of "high grade" marijuana and two loaded handguns.
Bakersfield once had at least a half dozen licensed medical marijuana dispensaries but they all closed in 2007 after sheriff's raids.
Under new state attorney general guidelines, only nonprofit marijuana collectives or cooperatives -- not for-profit dispensaries -- are allowed to operate under state law.
In late April, Doug McAfee of the Bakersfield chapter of NORML, a pro-legalization group, said he knew of at least three to five groups planning to restart their operations as collectives and cooperatives.
