Michigan Police Raid Home Over Marijuana -- Seize Contents Of Family's Safety Deposit Box At Bank

After ransacking and looting family's home through asset forfeiture, police loot family's safety deposit box
Chris | InformationLiberation
Aug. 27, 2012

Michigan police officers who raided a family's home over marijuana reportedly took a woman's "safety deposit box information" out of her purse, then raided her safety deposit box and seized $3,000 she had stored at her bank. While the whole story is noteworthy, as this was an armed raid over meager amounts of marijuana used for personal use, using "asset forfeiture seizure," also known as armed robbery, to seize the contents of someone's safety deposit box over marijuana seems to be taking their robbery to a whole new level.

Via MLive:

Members of a local family said they are upset after eight BAYANET officers broke open their front door Monday night, ransacking the home to seize marijuana, cash and property.

Pot supporters, some from outside of Saginaw County, responded to offer support to the family.

Richard Markva, 42, lives in the home with his children, Tyler Markva, 17, Brittney Markva, 22, and Brittney's 2-year-old daughter, Areigha.

Brittney Markva said she was sleeping and awoke as Bay Area Narcotics Enforcement Team officers used a battering ram to knock down the front door.

An officer with a rifle drawn led the team of officers through the front door, Tyler Markva said. He was put on the ground and handcuffed while the officers searched the home.

They were looking for drugs and had a warrant, searching the home to find marijuana in a few locations, totaling about 22 grams, Brittney Markva said, along with two digital scales and a pipe.

The officers seized the marijuana and about $1,000 cash Brittney Markva had in her purse and took her safety deposit box information, seizing about $3,000 she had at a bank. They also took a lease agreement and documents related to a new business that she was working to open in Bay City.

A BAYANET official confirmed that the agency executed a search warrant for narcotics at the Saginaw township home but could not comment further on the ongoing investigation.

She said she earned the money legally with a steady job, and she declined to share where she works.

[...]In the weeks before the raid, members of the family said they were pulled over while driving several times by sheriff's deputies and believe officers were taking away their trash.

Overkill much? What in the hell is wrong with these police, all this over marijuana?

Marijuana is quite possibly one of the most harmless substances on planet earth. If you drink too much water, you can die. Take too many vitamins, you can die. If you smoke ungodly amounts of marijuana, well, then "be prepared to spend a lot of time laughing with your friends," to quote Mr. Jellyneck from Strangers with Candy.

It's literally impossible to overdose on marijuana, yet the majority of "legal" prescription and over the counter drugs can kill you if consumed in large enough amounts. Alcohol, no doubt the most destructive of all drugs, and the biggest gateway drug, in many states is sold exclusively by the government! Yet if you smoke a harmless plant substance armed goon-squads employed by the same drug pushers will be searching through your trash!

That's why I say it's not enough to merely end the war on drugs, we need restitution. All the police who stole people's property and stole their liberty by throwing people in jail need to first return any drugs they stole from all their victims, then second pay damages to their victims to make them whole again, the same as would happen to any other criminal. Stealing from people and denying people their liberties because "it's the law," is no more an excuse for criminality than jailing black people because "the law" said they're slaves. These "laws" are meaningless paper legislation signed by criminals the majority of Americans despise, their arbitrary edicts are meaningless garbage and in no way justify hardcore criminal actions carried out by their moron enforcers who are "just doing their jobs," and "just following orders."
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Chris runs the website InformationLiberation.com, you can read more of his writings here. Follow infolib on twitter here.