WSLCB - Executive Management Team
(April 14, 2021) - Federal Enforcement Action

Details about WSLCB involvement in a federally coordinated police raid raised new questions about the agency’s engagement in the drug war, and revealed threats against one board member.

Here are some observations from the Wednesday April 14th Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Executive Management Team meeting.

My top 3 takeaways:

• Following an update on the Education and Enforcement Division, Board Chair David Postman asked about the agency’s role in a recent federal enforcement action.
  • Director of Education and Enforcement Chandra Brady, who started in the role on February 1st, provided a general overview of her division’s operational, leadership, and diversity status (audio - 4m).
    • Brady noted that complaints to the agency regarding coronavirus pandemic restrictions had decreased and her team continued to seek employees for both noncommissioned compliance officers and armed enforcement officers designated "limited authority Washington peace officers."
    • Brady reported having visited all WSLCB regional offices to meet staff. 
    • As part of her commitment to developing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) among her team, Brady reached out to the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives (NAWLEE) to explore adding WSLCB to the 30×30 Initiative which seeks to increase the number of women in law enforcement positions.
  • Postman followed up to say he was “curious about” the federal enforcement action against a “drug distribution conspiracy” announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington. The expansive operation resulted in 21 arrests “on indictments and criminal complaints charging an extensive drug dealing conspiracy by defendants who often illegally possessed firearms, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Law enforcement teams...executed about 90 search warrants across the Puget Sound region from as far north as Everett and as far south as Spanaway. In addition to 16 of the 19 people named in the indictments, 5 additional defendants were arrested on criminal complaints.” The announcement identified WSLCB as one of 25 law enforcement agencies from federal, state, county, and municipal governments coordinated by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Postman noted that he’d only learned of the participation by the agency after receiving “some comments about that at a meeting.” He questioned Brady about how involved the division was in the “joint task force,” wondering “what do we do?” (audio - 5m)
    • “Yeah, no, I can’t tell you,” Brady said, laughing with Postman and noting Director Rick Garza was “back there probably having a heart attack” because she joked about the secrecy of enforcement officer involvement. She admitted on March 12th “we were contacted” by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) “with a list of individuals involved that were involved in what they were looking at as an extensive drug dealing conspiracy." Due to “several suspected illicit grows” of cannabis, FBI agents were attempting to ascertain “if there [were] any licensees involved,” she said, “which happens occasionally.” Brady observed the arrangement “also gives us information if our licensees are involved.”
    • On March 15th, Brady responded to the FBI, telling officials “one of the individuals and one of the locations being looked at was...a processor licensee.” At that time WSLCB enforcement officers were “formally” invited by agents “to assist in a, a warrant service operation” of two unlicensed cannabis grows, she said, and “one of our licensees was suspected of diversion, or inversion.”
      • Cannabis Observer has not yet identified a named suspect related to a WSLCB license.
    • On April 7th, three WSLCB officers joined police from two dozen agencies, assisting at three of what Brady believed were “21 locations,” specifically “two of the illicit grows, and we were assisting with the dismantling of illegal grows.” The third enforcement officer was “at a licensee location so that we are able to assist with running traceability,” she told the group, adding that the “other thing we do...in that process is we advise on chemical hazards related to pesticides and we help gather and package the marijuana that is being removed from those areas.” Brady emphasized that WSLCB staff were “not involved in the entry or the arrests, we’re simply involved---as the subject matter experts---when it comes to marijuana.” “They are looking at potential criminal charges where our licensee’s involved,” Brady stated, at which point staff would “make some decisions about our administrative processes.”
    • Postman clarified that WSLCB was involved on the day of the enforcement action, and Brady confirmed that was the same day as the locations being raided by other police agencies. Postman then pointed out that the U.S. Attorney’s Office press release mentioned “meth[amphetamine], cocaine, and that they...found a lot of guns. They didn’t mention illegal grow[ing].” Nonetheless, he understood that there was “reason to believe that there’s illegal grows, that [there was] marijuana that needed to be secured.” Brady attested that staff focused on the illicit grows and where “our licensee was involved,” saying “without a nexus to our work or a licensee, we would not be involved in, in that situation.”
    • The police action was discussed the day it happened at the April 7th Cannabis Advisory Council (CAC) meeting during which some members harshly criticized the involvement of agency staff.
    • See a press release about the raids on the Seattle Police Blotter, and press releases on the action from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Department of Homeland Security Immigation and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Aside from the word ‘cannabis’ in WSLCB’s name, there is no public mention of confiscation of cannabis plants or cannabis products.
    • Legislation expanding the scope of recommendations the Washington State Legislative Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis (WA SECTF) would report on initially featured a recommendation on “The social equity impact of reducing or ending the funding directed to the Washington state patrol drug enforcement task force under RCW 69.50.540 and redirecting an equivalent amount to a cannabis social equity program.” However, Senator Curtis King, the WA Senate minority caucus appointee to WA SECTF, successfully moved an amendment to have that specific item removed from the bill on March 24th. The amendment was incorporated into the bill text as passed by the legislature on April 15th.

• Board Member Ollie Garrett revealed that she’d faced threats on her safety due to her perceived role in the enforcement action (audio - 5m).
  • Garrett said that “as a result of LCB being listed” in the U.S. Attorney’s Office announcement, “there were some serious threats made on me” due to an individual’s belief that she was “personally...involved with this.” She said a text message was sent to a member of WA SECTF, where Garrett was appointed to represent the agency, and it was a “serious enough of a text message” that the person “felt obligated to let me know.”
  • Garrett did not name the person who sent the threat, nor the WA SECTF member who forwarded it to her. She did read part of the message while censoring the “explicit language,” sharing that it read “Ollie better watch her F self and hire some F security as soon as possible. She sits there and allows this S over and over. I’m coming for her bed wench ass today.” Garrett reported that the task force member who received the text message sought clarification from the person making the threat “and the reply to that text was ‘She knew they were there coming after those Black men. That was an LCB-led task force.’” Garrett said she “didn't even know" about the law enforcement activity but she was criticized for it during the CAC meeting “when it was brought up by the same person about the 40 men and arrests.”
  • Garrett wanted staff to understand that “it would really be helpful when you can if we can communicate some things before it hits the press” and she “hear[d] it from the community.” She said that she ran “into things like that quite often,” citing an example where she’d been contacted by an individual who had heard that “Ollie personally can do something about a licensee not being able to get their license renewed.” This led Garrett to think shere should be more public understanding around “the Board, and the fact that the three board members don’t know everyday what enforcement and certain things are going on.” In reality, the Board was more likely to gain awareness of an enforcement activity “once they get to litigation and come before us.” However, she stressed that the public perception was that the Board was already “aware of everything that’s going on within our agency, when we’re not.” Garrett asked that Brady stay aware “that if there’s things that we can get heads up on it would be nice to know.”

• Postman instructed Director of Education and Enforcement Chandra Brady to keep the Board informed when the agency would have a role in major law enforcement operations going forward (audio - 3m).
  • Postman acknowledged the difficulty of coordination on police activities with many agencies, particularly when control was “in the hands of the federal folks there to decide when the press release comes out.” He knew that it would be “unlikely the board members would be told about a sweep like that prior to it happening...but as soon as we know that something like that happened, and if we’re part of it, it would be great to get that summation” of WSLCB staff roles.
  • Postman pointed out that the description given by CAC members was "not completely” an accurate view of WSLCB involvement but that he’d been caught off guard by the situation nonetheless.
  • He noted the threat against Garrett was being taken “very, very seriously” by the agency “and I won’t go into all the details of what that entails” but the remarks were "beyond the pale, it is disturbing."
  • Brady responded that she was happy Garrett was safe “and that we were able to get a response.” She was grateful for the feedback on the situation from Postman and Board Member Russ Hauge as well, saying in her prior law enforcement positions “those sorts of occurrences..were standard operation" so she appreciated the clarity around an expectation to be informed. Postman concluded that it was easy to infer that the WSLCB board members not only knew “everything before it happens but that we direct everything to happen.” While that impression might not go away, staff should “try to share as much information as possible where appropriate.”

Information Set