On Tuesday morning, owners and employees of hemp warehouses were surprised by authorities. Officials from the Allen Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration had search warrants for three warehouses located off Harry Hines Boulevard in Dallas.
Monster Smoke Warehouse, Frontline Wholesale, and Cannify Distribution all sell hemp-based products and were raided on Tuesday.
In addition to the seizures of multiple boxes that were loaded into at least two box trucks, Allen PD said residential search warrants were also carried out in Plano, Carrollton, and Colleyville.
In a press release issued Tuesday afternoon, Allen PD said the search warrants are part of their efforts to “dismantle the illegal distribution of consumable THC products.”
While the agency did not clearly state the basis of Tuesday’s search warrants, they referenced the nine hemp shops raided in 2024.
“These search warrants were the result of several months of investigation, during which undercover officers, on multiple occasions, purchased illegal THC products directly from the warehouses,” Allen Police said. “These purchases provided critical evidence supporting today’s enforcement actions. Detectives are also working to determine where the financial proceeds from these illegal operations are being directed—whether they are remaining within the United States and/or being diverted overseas.”
Attorney David Sergi represents Monster. As of Tuesday afternoon, Sergi and his team worked to obtain a copy of the search warrants.
“We’d like our stuff back. We’d like to be able to be in business with product that is legal in Texas,” Sergi said. “They’re taking a lot of product that is both legal under the Farm Bill and legal under Texas law.”
He said authorities are likely challenging the levels of THC in his client’s products.
In Texas, the limit of products with THC is limited to 0.3%.
“They are basically misrepresenting how you test for THC,” Sergi said. “The Texas Forensic Science Commission has just issued a report that shows that the way that Department of Public Safety and the way that Armstrong Labs tests is inappropriate and wrong and comes up with false results.”
While published in April and listed here on its website, the report by the Texas Forensic Science Commission was not available for download. NBC 5 reached out to the state agency for comment and has not received a response.
According to Sergi, each of his client’s “product includes a QR code that links directly to its Certificate of Analysis (COA) — a legally binding document, signed by a DEA-registered, ISO-accredited lab director, confirming that the product meets the legal requirement of less than 0.3% delta-9 THC. These tests follow validated scientific methods.”
Sergi called Tuesday’s raids an overreach of law enforcement.
“It seems like Chief Dye and this alleged task force of his have totally blown right past that and knowing that their testing methods are wrong, still are conducting these raids,” Sergi said. “Trying to forfeit millions of dollars from clients of ours that are hardworking, that have built their business and accusing them of all sorts of crimes for which we will hold them to account.”
Off camera, NBC 5 spoke to customers of the affected businesses. They said they were shocked as the businesses are licensed and hemp remains legal in Texas.
The raids come as Texans wait for Governor Greg Abbott’s decision on whether to sign or veto SB 3, the bill that aims to ban consumable THC products in Texas.
