Nationwide synthetic marijuana ring with stacks of cash had roots in KC, feds say

The drugs they sold were synthetic.

But the large amounts of money they made were very real.

Federal prosecutors in Kansas City this week filed documents that outline an extensive, nationwide conspiracy to manufacture and distribute millions of dollars of synthetic marijuana, commonly known as K2 or spice.

The documents reveal the complicated network of front companies and bank accounts conspirators used to launder proceeds from the drug sales.

More than $21 million in proceeds from drug trafficking were deposited by members of the conspiracy in numerous bank accounts, investigators with the Internal Revenue Service alleged in the documents.

And it all began in Kansas City in the summer of 2009 when Mohammad Saleem began manufacturing K2 inside a warehouse on 18th Street, just east of the historic 18th and Vine District, according to the allegations prosecutors made in the court documents.

At the time Saleem allegedly started, the product was not illegal, but subsequent laws have criminalized the sale and production of the drugs.

Saleem and five others are now facing charges in U.S. District Court in Kansas City related to the conspiracy. They are scheduled to go to trial early next year. Prosecutors and attorneys for two of the men declined to comment.

The documents prosecutors filed this week were in support of a warrant to seize about $486,000 from two bank accounts. They said about $794,000 previously had been seized from other accounts and safe deposit boxes during the investigation.

After he allegedly began manufacturing the drugs in Kansas City, Saleem moved the business to the Dallas area because of increasing demand. He used two warehouses to manufacture and distribute the drugs, and hired day laborers to work in the facilities.

When the operation moved to Texas, Saleem became partners with Shakeel Khan, who took over the operation in the Kansas City area, the documents allege.

They allegedly set up a nationwide network of customers who distributed the drugs at gas stations, convenience stores and smoke shops.

The products are often marketed as incense and packaged as not for human consumption.

The product is made by spraying a plant material with various chemicals that mimic the effects of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

Users have experienced adverse medical reactions such as rapid heart rate, agitation, profuse sweating, confusion and hallucinations.

Kidney damage and heart attacks also have been reported. The American Psychiatric Association reported that some users suffer “prolonged psychotic episodes.”

During one incident in 2010 — when manufacturing the drug was legal — a person who worked next door to Saleem’s operation in Fort Worth passed out from fumes generated from the manufacturing process.

Saleem told police at that time that he was selling 100,000 three-gram bags of K2 every month, according to the documents.

That same year, Saleem met California resident Arif Siddiq and moved the operation to the Los Angeles area in 2011.

The chemicals used to manufacture the material came from China, and the conspirators obtained 15 to 18 kilograms of chemicals every week, according to the documents.

While operating in California, the conspirators would employ 50 to 60 people to package the drugs.

It was almost exclusively a cash business, and employees of the conspiracy reported picking up hundreds of thousands of dollars from customers every week.

One unnamed Florida man who was prosecuted there in federal court, told investigators that he supplied Saleem with chemicals. During one transaction in Los Angeles, the man said Saleem paid him $200,000 in cash from a foot-high stack of about $2 million.

After the substances became illegal in March 2011, prosecutors allege that Saleem’s operation continued to manufacture the products.

The documents outline several law enforcement drug seizures during the course of the investigation, including 49 kilograms found during a search of the warehouse in Kansas City, where Saleem allegedly began the operation.

And an October 2013 operation in the Kansas City area led to numerous arrests and the seizure of several hundred kilograms of K2 packaged for sale.

The documents also mention an investigation by police in Des Moines, Iowa, that led to the prosecution of two men who were allegedly customers of Saleem.

Their conspiracy also supplied what are described as “major customers” in Dallas, San Antonio and Tulsa. Those customers in turn distribute the products to other customers in 21 states, including Kansas and Missouri, according to the allegations.

According to the court documents, Saleem and Khan opened bank accounts in the names of other people to conceal money made from drug sales.

Money also was laundered through safe deposit boxes and bank accounts set up in the names of some of their children and other relatives, authorities allege.

This story was originally published November 3, 2016 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Nationwide synthetic marijuana ring with stacks of cash had roots in KC, feds say."