Feds raid medicinal pot grower

No arrests made, but plants, guns confiscated from home

K Kaufmann and Marie McCain
The Desert Sun, CA
03/15/06

Federal agents raided a Sky Valley house Tuesday owned by a man who says he grows marijuana for patients of a Palm Desert medical marijuana dispensary.

No arrests were made in the morning sweep of Garry Silva's Dowell Lane residence. However, agents armed with a federal search warrant did confiscate "guns and a quantity of marijuana," said Sarah Fenno Beers, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Silva said he cracked the deadbolt on his door and 10-12 federal and Riverside County sheriff's deputies slammed the door open and sent him sprawling on the floor with a dislocated shoulder.

The agents also pointed guns at his wife and daughter, Silva said.

Beers, the DEA spokeswoman, declined to comment further about the raid, citing an ongoing investigation.

"They did a home invasion," Silva said. "They took all the plants, all the product (dried marijuana), one light for evidence."

Silva said he had about 70 plants at the time of the raid, 30 of which were under 3 inches tall.

Silva said the agents also took his wallet and his doctor's letter of recommendation verifying he was a legal medical marijuana user. He had applied for a state-issued medical marijuana ID card, he said, and had been scheduled to pick it up in Riverside on Tuesday.

The agents also confiscated two shotguns, a deer rifle and a handgun.

Silva was not arrested or charged with any crime, but he said the agents warned him that if he were raided again for growing medical marijuana, he would be.