Heaven's stairway shutdown.

[Omun]

Sorry for the bad news but today Heaven's Stairway has been shutdown.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...Story/National

I was just about to make an order with them soon. Oh and overgrow.com is down :'( It's a very sad day.

We must get rid of these conservative governments in the United States and Candada!

Omun Reviewed by Omun on 03-01-2006. Heaven's stairway shutdown. Sorry for the bad news but today Heaven's Stairway has been shutdown. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060301.DRUGBUST01/TPStory/National I was just about to make an order with them soon. Oh and overgrow.com is down :'( It's a very sad day. We must get rid of these conservative governments in the United States and Candada! Rating: 5

[del...]

ummm, actually that all came down a couple months ago...there is a thread about it with ALL the info gleaned from the net but it got talked off of the first page long ago...try looking on page 3 or so. more info can be found at icmag but there too, it's an old subject that seems to be on hold until facts are brought forth. you'll have to read the whole story...

[Nochowderforyou]

Yeah, old news.

[del...]

and here it is from today's newpapers from different cities in canada...so far nothing yet in us news. i copied this from several posts at cc...

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/...7-94de0203cfa1

Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/
Forum: http://discussion.canada.com/user/forums.asp
Address: P.O. Box 5020, 1101 Baxter Rd., Ottawa, ON K2C 3M4
Fax: (613) 596-8522
Copyright: 2006 The Ottawa Citizen
Author: Shannon Proudfoot and Paul Cherry
Pubdate: Shannon Proudfoot and Paul Cherry

Website busted for marijuana seed sales

The owner of a Glebe store that sells marijuana seeds says he will be cautiously assessing the future of his business, after the RCMP shut down a Montreal-based Internet company for selling seeds, and charged seven people.

"It seems like the winds of tolerance have been blowing in our direction for the past number of years, but they may have shifted a bit," said Mike Foster, the owner of Crosstown Traffic on Bank Street. He would not say whether he would continue to sell seeds at his store, which opened in 1992.

Heaven's Stairway has operated brazenly online since 1998 and is currently listed on Quebec's business registry, but the RCMP announced yesterday they had shut it down, calling the large-scale bust the first of its kind in Canada. Owner Richard Baghdadlian, 38, and six others have been charged with importing and trafficking in marijuana and conspiracy to do the same.

Sgt. Andre Potvin of the RCMP said there is evidence the company sold seeds to customers all over North America and to several other foreign countries.

Mr. Foster said he was waiting to see whether the major issue with Heaven's Stairway was shipping seeds across the border, or that they were selling seeds at all. His store's website states prominently that they do not ship to the U.S. "under any circumstances."

Dawn Moore, an assistant law professor at Carleton University, said drug busts make for excellent public-relations opportunities for police.

"In general, drug laws are always a great way to show that law enforcement is working. These high-level drug busts have a certain appeal to the populace, because it's a very visible way to say, 'Oh look, we got the bad guys'," she said.



Webpage:
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazett...5-83a36f96d38f

Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap
Pubdate: Wednesday, March 1, 2006
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/
Author: Paul Cherry

RCMP make cyberbust

Pot seeds sold online; Police operation is first of its kind in Canada

PAUL CHERRY, The Gazette

An Internet company that sold marijuana seeds has gone over like a lead
zeppelin with the RCMP.

Although Montreal-based Heaven's Stairway has operated brazenly on the
Internet since 1998 and is listed on Quebec's business registry, the RCMP
announced yesterday they have shut down its operations, located in the
basement of a duplex on Marsan St. in Cartierville.

The RCMP described the large-scale bust as the first of its kind in Canada.

The company's owner, Richard Baghdadlian, 38, and six other people have been
charged with importing and trafficking in marijuana and conspiracy to do the
same.

All the suspects have been released on bail. Baghdadlian's lawyer, Loris
Cavaliere, said he has yet to see the evidence gathered in the case.

"It's the first time I've seen a case like this," Cavaliere said.

During the RCMP investigation, the company received 30 orders a day at an
average price of $100 each, RCMP Sgt. Andre Potvin said. The company is
believed to have purchased its seeds from dealers in British Columbia,
Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

Potvin said there is evidence the company sold seeds to customers all over
North America and to several foreign countries. The RCMP carried out search
warrants and seized more than 200,000 marijuana seeds, enough to supply 500
greenhouses with 400 plants.

The company received orders through its various websites. Customers paid for
their seeds by mailing cash or money orders to post office boxes in
Montreal.

Potvin said the RCMP had been aware of Heaven's Stairway for years but
lacked the resources to pursue the company until a new drug-enforcement team
was assembled in 2004.

Marc-Boris St. Maurice, president of the Marijuana Foundation, an
organization that seeks to reform marijuana legislation, said the shutdown
of Heaven's Stairway was the subject of much discussion in chat rooms and on
marijuana-related websites. He said many customers are worried their
purchases have left an electronic trace.

"There are about two or three dozen companies operating in Canada that sell
seeds either by mail or in stores (including about 10 in Montreal.) They
have been functioning pretty much with impunity and no police intervention,"
St. Maurice said.

"This court case is going to be very important with regards to seeds in
Canada.

"The eyes of the international cannabis community are going to be on this
very closely."

The RCMP raids and arrests come months after the United States had British
Columbia resident Marc Emery arrested on an extradition request. Emery is
charged in the U.S. with conspiring to distribute marijuana seeds and
launder money.

Reached by phone yesterday, Emery said he was aware of the Heaven's Stairway
case. He said he considers his case different because the Montreal company
was also giving advice on how to run marijuana grow operations. By
comparison, Emery has been very public while pushing for the regulated and
licensed sale of marijuana.

"The irony is, if I'm sent to the U.S. and convicted, I'm going to be sent
to prison for 30 years for something that is a political issue," Emery said.

"If (Baghdadlian and the co-accused) are convicted here in Canada, they'll
do something like six months."




Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap
Pubdate: Wednesday, March 1, 2006
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Author: Ingrid Peritz

RCMP bust drug ring, seize 200,000 marijuana seeds

Montreal-based websites known around the world

INGRID PERITZ

MONTREAL -- Loyal customers around the world knew that Heaven's Stairway was
neither in the funeral business nor offering old Led Zeppelin records for
sale. In fact, police say, the Montreal-based outfit was clear about its
product: Marijuana seeds.

It ran an Internet business out of a Montreal apartment and grew it into a
multimillion-dollar concern, police say, that shipped high-potency seeds
across Canada, the United States and even Europe. At least until late
January.

Yesterday, the Mounties in Montreal announced they had busted Heaven's
Stairway, and shut down its six websites. In a series of raids in late
January, it arrested seven people and seized 200,000 marijuana seeds, along
with bootie including $183,000 (U.S.) and three gold bricks.

"This was a major and large-scale operation," Staff Sgt. André Potvin, chief
of operations for the Montreal drug section of the RCMP, said in an
interview. "It was centralized, very organized, and active around the
world."

The police allege that the business functioned like an efficient
import-export business, trading on the global reach of the Internet and the
international appetite for pot. In Montreal, members of the organization
imported seeds in bulk from suppliers as far as away as Holland and New
Zealand.

Employees picked up orders through Montreal post-office boxes, according to
police. Then they mailed off seeds in small packets to customers around the
world. The operation was able to process about 30 seed orders a day,
averaging $100 each.

"They were doing millions of dollars of business a year," Staff Sgt. Potvin
said.

The RCMP said it seized enough seeds in its raids to supply about 500
cannabis greenhouses with 400 plants each -- enough to make 42 million
joints.

Marijuana activist Marc-Boris St.-Maurice said marijuana-seed sales operate
within a legal vacuum in Canada, and police have generally turned a blind
eye to the practice. But Canadian law-enforcement officials were pressed to
act once sales spread beyond Canada's borders, said Mr. St.-Maurice,
national executive-director of the National Organization of Reform of
Marijuana Laws in Canada.

"Within Canada, no one raised an eyebrow. But it's embarrassing for Canada
to have citizen from here sending stuff to other countries. When these seeds
are going to the United States, where there's no tolerance whatsoever, that
gets a little dicey."

Richard Hratch Baghdadlian, 38, is accused of being the mastermind of the
organization. The seven suspects face a total of 49 charges, including
possession of cannabis seeds for the purpose of trafficking, and if
convicted could be imprisoned for 10 years.

Staff Sgt. Potvin said the Montreal mail-order operation had been active
since 1998, but the police began their investigation in November, 2004. In
all, seven investigators were assigned to the case for 16 months.



Webpage:
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/n...5-f50132afc51d

Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap
Pubdate: Wednesday, March 1, 2006
Source: National Post (Canada)
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Author: Paul Cherry, CanWest News Service

Internet marijuana store busted

First case of its kind

Paul Cherry, CanWest News Service

MONTREAL - The RCMP has shut down an Internet company that sells marijuana
seeds.

The Montreal-based company Heaven's Stairway has operated brazenly since
1998 and is even listed on Quebec's business registry. The company sold
seeds with quirky labels like Crippy Bud and Deep Blue Rush.

Yesterday, the RCMP described the large-scale bust as the first of its kind
in Canada.

Company owner Richard Baghdadlian, 38, and six others have been charged with
importing and trafficking in marijuana and conspiracy to do the same. All
have been released on bail.

Mr. Baghdadlian's lawyer, Loris Cavaliere, said he has yet to see the
evidence: "It's the first time I've ever seen a case like this."

During the RCMP investigation the company received 30 orders a day at an
average price of $100 each, said Sergeant Andre Potvin of the RCMP. The
company is believed to have purchased its seeds from dealers in British
Columbia, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

Sgt. Potvin said there is evidence the company sold seeds to customers all
over North America and to several other foreign countries. When the RCMP
carried out its search warrants it seized more than 200,000 marijuana seeds,
enough to supply 500 greenhouses with 400 plants.

The company received orders through its various Web sites. Customers would
pay for seeds by mailing either cash or money orders to post office boxes in
Montreal.

Sgt. Potvin said the RCMP was aware of Heaven's Stairway for years but that
it lacked the resources to pursue the company until a new drug-enforcement
team was assembled in 2004.

Marc-Boris St. Maurice, president of the Marijuana Foundation, which seeks
to reform marijuana legislation, said the case could affect about two or
three dozen companies in Canada that sell seeds either by mail or in stores.


******* all above copied from page 15 at http://www.cannabisculture.com/forum...=&fpart=1&vc=1 **********

[Crispyfried]

This is just going to accelerate the legalization process in Canada.