| Photo: Roger Christie’s MySpace |
At least six and as many as a dozen homes were raided Wednesday during a federal drug sweep on Hawaii’s Big Island, reports John Burnett at the Hawaii Tribune-Herald.
“I know of about six others who were raided,” said Roger Christie, founder and director of The Hawaii Cannabis Ministry, whose downtown Hilo sanctuary and Wainaku residence were searched by federal agents, assisted by local police.
Wednesday’s police log showed 12 report numbers indicating police assistance to federal agents between 4 a.m. and just past 3 p.m. Five incidents occurred in Puna, four in South Hilo, and one each in North Hilo, Hamakua and Ka’u.
A police spokesman confirmed that all are related to the federal raids, and referred any further inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Honolulu.
“There have been no arrests and no charges,” Deputy U.S. Attorney Tom Muehleck said Thursday afternoon.
Two callers told the Tribune-Herald that their homes were raided. One offered no additional information; another said 25 marijuana seedlings were seized from his home and complained about his 93-year-old father being awakened at 6 a.m. by federal agents.
Christie said agents spent about seven hours searching his home and ministry, starting around 6 a.m. He said the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), U.S. Postal Inspector and U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service were all involved in the search, as were local police.
| Photo: Roger Christie’s MySpace |
| Roger Christie of THC Ministry |
”They treated me with the utmost respect and courtesy,” Christie said Wednesday afternoon at THC Ministry headquarters, which showed no signs Thursday afternoon of having been searched.
According to Christie, investigators even brought him breakfast.
“They were looking for records and cash — ill-gotten gain — and cannabis, cannabis smoking devices, cannabis growing equipment,” Christie said. “The search warrant was pretty broad, and they looked high and low. They looked thoroughly around my place, around both places.”
Christie said federal agents seized ministry records, “holy anointing oil” containing cannabis, and Christie’s cell phone. He said computer drives were copied by the computers were left in operable condition. One marijuana plant was taken from the sanctuary.
“The moved it so carefully that they didn’t even leave any trace of dirt behind,” he said.
“To me, the interesting thing in the search warrant was… the need to leave anything behind that could be construed as legitimate ministry materials… Usually, it’s just rip and roll,” Christie said.
“You know, that’s a country I want to live in,” Christie said. “If they’re gonna have to do this, do it with some respect.”
