Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
A suspected marijuana farm on the Menominee Indian Tribe reservation produced 6-foot-tall plants under the supervision of consultants from Colorado, where marijuana is legal, federal records show.
The connection between the Wisconsin tribe and Colorado-based Comprehensive Cannabis Consulting was not immediately clear, although representatives of the consulting firm were present when federal agents inspected the alleged growing operation on tribal land.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said agents later seized about 30,000 marijuana plants during a raid Friday on a farm located along County Road M on the reservation north of Shawano.
No arrests or criminal charges have been announced, and tribal leaders contend that the remote farm was designed to cultivate industrial hemp, a relative of marijuana that can be used legally in clothing and other products.
But an affidavit released Monday by the U.S. District Court in Green Bay shows that drug agents reported finding evidence of violations of federal laws against possession, manufacture and distribution of marijuana. A federal magistrate approved a search warrant for Friday’s raid based on evidence presented in the 19-page affidavit.
The affidavit described thousands of plants growing in the open, some 4 to 6 feet tall, and others hanging up to dry in a barn on a 20-acre compound protected by security guards who lived in pop-up trailer and a nearby house.
Investigators determined that the operation was supervised by a Colorado consultant who was not a Menominee tribal member and who was associated with Comprehensive Cannabis Consulting.
“He was in clear violation of federal law and Wisconsin state law,” the affidavit stated of the consultant.
The affidavit also showed that Menominee tribal leaders had met with investigators and had given permission to inspect the growing operation, which the tribe described as strictly an industrial hemp field.
Leo Hawkins, a spokesman for the DEA in Chicago, said Monday he could not speculate what would happen next in the investigation.
“It’ll definitely be an ongoing investigation,” Hawkins said.
Officials at the Menominee tribal headquarters in Keshena declined to comment on Monday.
A spokeswoman said Tribal Chairman Gary Besaw was in his office Monday. A special closed-door meeting of the tribe’s governing legislature was scheduled later in the day.
Besaw issued a statement Friday accusing the federal government of improperly seizing and destroyed an industrial hemp crop that was being cultivated for research purposes to identify a possible new business venture for the tribe. The research effort, which Besaw said was disclosed to federal authorities, was being conducted in partnership with the College of Menominee Nation.
A sign posted at the scene declared it “a permitted and experimental industrial hemp field operation associated with the College of Menominee Nation.”
College President Verna Fowler on Monday declined to comment.
Tribal representatives have not addressed the federal government’s contention that the farm was raising marijuana, not industrial hemp.
The issue arises two months after Menominee leaders asked tribal members if they would support legalizing marijuana so that it could be grown on the reservation as a possible new source of revenue for the impoverished tribe. A referendum on the issue passed with strong support in August, although tribal leaders have not publicly announced whether they will pursue the issue further.
According to the affidavit unsealed Monday, DEA investigators assisted by agents from the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs met with tribal leaders Oct. 19 to discuss the farming operation and to conduct an inspection. Besaw was scheduled to participate, but he was in California instead, so investigators were accompanied by Tribal Acting Chairwoman Ruth Waupoose along with other tribal officials.
Agents collected samples, took photographs and talked with a representative of the Colorado consulting firm. Two vehicles with Colorado license plates were spotted on the compound, records show.
Tests on the plant samples initially came back negative, the affidavit states, but a retesting later showed positive results for marijuana. Agents later reported that the crop of suspected marijuana plants weighed “several thousand pounds.”
Oconto County Sheriff Michael Jansen said his agency assisted in Friday’s operation by destroying some of the confiscated plants.