| Photo: Friends of Cannabis |
| Prince of Pot Marc Emery could be extradited to the United States at any time with four hours’ notice |
A U.S. undercover agent posing as a marijuana seed buyer worked in Canada to get American criminal charges against Marc Emery, Vancouver’s self-anointed “Prince of Pot.”
The information was revealed Monday, the same day Emery’s bail expires, and when he is supposed to either turn himself in to authorities or face extradition to the United States — or to be released, if the justice minister refuses the extradition, reports The Canadian Press.
The undercover operation by U.S. agents is outlined in a briefing memo to Justice Minister Rob Nicholson dated February 10, 2010, and describes the case against Emery.
Numerous mail order purchases were made by U.S. undercover agents between March 2004 and March 2005, and then Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent Tracy Mendez was sent to Vancouver, according to the memo.
In a dismaying betrayal that will enrage many Canadians, Mendez was under the supervision of and working with the approval of Vancouver’s police department, according to the memo.
Staff at Emery’s Cannabis Culture store in Vancouver allegedly advised Mendez on how to smuggle seeds across the U.S. border and how to grow the marijuana.
“It is alleged that (the store employee) told agent Mendez that border inspectors do not conduct strip searches of females, so she should hide the seeds somewhere on her body,” the memo says.
The new information was obtained under Canada’s federal Access to Information Act by Kirk Tousaw, an activist lawyer and former Marijuana Party manager.
Emery is president of the B.C. Marijuana Party, in addition to running his seed-selling business and Cannabis Culture, his marijuana paraphernalia store and magazine.
Mendez made several deals to buy cannabis seeds for cash, and Emery knew she was planning to smuggle the seeds across the border, according to the documents.
In a plea deal made with U.S. prosecutors last year, Emery agreed to plead guilty to sending seeds into the United States, in return for five years in prison.
He was originally charged with manufacturing and distributing marijuana and money laundering.es
Two of his Cannabis Culture employees were also accused, but charges against them were dropped as a result of Emery’s plea bargain.
Emery has sold about 4 million marijuana seeds, and 75 percent of those went to customers in the United States, American prosecutors claim.
Emery has been eligible for extradition since early January, and has been told he could be extradited on four hours’ notice.
“It’s kind of a funny limbo that I’m always in,” Emery said.
The minister’s memo says Canada’s federal government has gotten more than 2,700 letters about Emery, virtually all of them supporting the Prince of Pot and asking that Nicholson refuse to extradite him.
Emery said the public is on his side.
“I feel it will be very politically unpopular if (the minister) proceeds with the extradition because, let’s say five to seven million Canadians use marijuana… I have the support of hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of Canadians.”
Up until the plea agreement, Emery had fought the United States’ extradition request for more than four years in the courts.
