http://newsok.com/judges-ruling-gives-oklahoma-pipe-shop-owner-breathing-room/article/5434671
Agents with the Drug Enforcement Agency attempted to muscle Ziggyz Pipe Shops stores out of business by contacting the stores’ landlords, owner Chelsey Davis alleges in a federal lawsuit July 1. Davis purchased the business after a raid on the previous owner…
On July 10, the judge issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the DEA from contacting the landlords or attempting to seize the landlords’ property…
Davis also asked the judge to address whether any items in his inventory are illegal paraphernalia, a request that the judge said could take weeks. Under state statute, whether an item constitutes drug paraphernalia depends on context and other factors. Heaton’s ruling could impact several other pipe shop owners facing charges in connection with recent raids at other stores.
Ziggyz had 12 locations across Oklahoma when state and federal law enforcement agents descended on the businesses April 22. Law enforcement involved in the raid included the DEA, Homeland Security, Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control and the Oklahoma City Police Department.
No charges have been filed, and the search warrant remains sealed…
Davis was in the process of negotiating new leases when he discovered the DEA had sent letters to his landlords, alleging the property “has been used, or is being used, to distribute synthetic cannabinoids,” another name for synthetic marijuana, and drug paraphernalia. The letter warns the landlords that their property could be seized if the activity continued, and the landlord could even be sent to prison or fined…
Reacting to the letters, landlords began eviction proceedings or giving Davis notice to move out, the lawsuit alleges. Davis already has shuttered five stores, and three others are in litigation…
Prior to filing the lawsuit, Davis invited federal agents to his stores to identify illegal products, offering to pull those items from the shelves, court records state. “The agents refused specifics and kept stating everything is paraphernalia, period,” court filings show…
The raid on Ziggyz is part of a recent law enforcement effort to crack down on pipe shops. Police in Norman recently raided two stores there—McCloud’z Pipes and Fatt Hedz— and took part in a raid at a second Fatt Hedz location in northwest Oklahoma City. Both Norman stores closed and the owners are facing charges.
Prosecutors charged Tamichael McCloud with a felony: possession of marijuana within 1,000 feet of a park, alleging in court records a pipe containing marijuana residue was found in his vehicle during the raid. McCloud’z was located on Norman’s Main Street near Legacy Trail Park, a public walking trail with no playground equipment…
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