I’d like to preface this post by saying that not everyone who supports reform of drug laws in this country is necessarily a drug addict or even does drugs. I, like many people I know, actually fall into this category of people, if for no other reason than I believe, and in many instances have seen proof that the government plays dirty in every facet of public policy. Why should drug laws be any different? With that in mind, I’d like to present the following story, re-posted from a NORML bulletin on MySpace…
“An Important Message from Marc Emery
The Laughing Buddha Nursery is a hydroponic supply and gardening store on the outskirts of New Orleans, in Metarie. The owner is Grant Estrada (in photograph). Grant Estrada is on the payroll of Drug Enforcement Administration as an informer. This Judas, for his $6,000, put first time pot gardener Juan Lopez in jail for many, many years. And he’s setting up gardeners in Louisiana right now to be turned over to the DEA.
The Laughing Buddha Nursery owner Grant Estrada wasn’t laughing when I called him up and said ” Grant Estrada, I’m doing an article on how you are co-operating with DEA and informing on your clients and assisting in the prosecution of your clients. Are you co-operating with DEA, setting up your clients and accepting blood money to do this? “
Grant Estrada replied, ” I can’t talk about that now ” and very nervously hung up the phone.
This is a photograph of Grant Estrada.
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Grant Estrada is most definitely a narc of the worst sort and has set up one, and probably is in the process of setting up many more, growers of the herb.
Google The Laughing Buddha Nursery in Metarie, Louisiana, and you don’t get any clue Estrada and his DEA-front store are in the day to day business of narking out customers to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Laughing Buddha Nursery
4516 Clearview Pkwy
Metarie, LA
Phone: (504) 887-4336 (ask for Grant)
You see he sells orchids, helped out after Hurricane Katrina, but mysteriously, there is no Google reference to the fact, established in a Baton Rouge, Louisiana court earlier this year, that GRANT ESTRADA accepted $6,000 from DEA in order to inform on his hydroponic store clients, specifically one JUAN LOPEZ, who bought thousands of dollars of equipment at Estrada’s store, with Estrada’s urging. In fact, Estrada told his customer Lopez at Laughing Buddha (whew, those DEA guys and their sense of humor) , that he would even sell the marijuana if Lopez would grow it.
After spending $15,000 on building a marijuana grow room with Estrada’s enthusiastic encouragement and assistance, DEA raided Lopez in February of 2005. At his trial, DEA did not disclose that it was paying Estrada to do exactly what he did, encourage and entrap growers or would be growers.
Now, a new judge may order a new trial for Juan Lopez, who was sentenced to five to twenty years in jail and has been incarcerated since July 2005. The DEA-FRONT Laughing Buddha hydroponics store owner Grant Estrada actually convinced Lopez to get into the business, and provided the actual marijuana plant cuttings to Lopez, and promised to find a buyer for those plants.
While Lopez languishes in jail for being gullible, Estrada is doing fine selling out growers as of the time I called him for his comments on April 24, 2007.
Prosecutors fought to hide the blood money informant payments to Estrada. During the trial, Judge James Brady refused to let Lopez’ attorney put Grant Estrada – informant – on the stand, claiming it would be “irrelevent.”
To confirm this story, research articles by Penny Brown Roberts for the Metarie Advocate.
My advice is for Louisiana activists to put this store out of business immediately by picketing the LAUGHING BUDDHA NURSERY at 4516 Clearview Parkway in Metarie, just outside of New Orleans. Signs with ” LAUGHING BUDDHA IS A DEA FRONT”
“GRANT ESTRADA – DEA SNITCH” .
Put this bastard out of business. Remember Juan Lopez could spend most of his life in jail. Make sure GRANT ESTRADA can never harm another gardener ever again.
If you want to help Juan Lopez win a retrial for entrapment, you can contact his lawyer, John Di Giulio, at 225-383-0078 or by email at john@johndiGiulio.com”
