THC deaths - Arrests

[Hooked]

Mother released on bond; fourth person in custody in Huffhines THC vaping case
https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/crime/mother-released-on-bond-fourth-person-in-custody-in-huffhines
2 Oct. 2019

"Courtney Huffhines, a 43-year-old real estate agent and mother of 23-year-old Jacob and 20-year-old Tyler Huffhines, is alleged by prosecutors to have helped her sons run the massive black market THC vape manufacturing business from her Union Grove real estate office, a rented Bristol condominium and their Paddock Lake home.

Tyler and Jacob Huffhines remain in jail.

According to statements in court and charging documents, Tyler Huffhines is the alleged ringleader of the operation, which had as many as 10 employees manufacturing vape cartridges using THC oil purchased in California.

Materials seized during the investigation have been sent to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for testing to try to determine if the operation is related to a spate of vaping-related illnesses and deaths in the region."

The fourth person:

"A 20-year-old Racine woman is being held in Kenosha County Jail pending charges related to the Huffhines THC vape manufacturing case.

The 20-year-old woman was taken into custody Tuesday. According to the jail roster, she is being held pending charges of manufacturing or delivering more than 10,000 grams of marijuana. Courtney and Tyler Huffhines face that same charge, among others.

A spokesman for the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department confirmed the woman is being charged in connection with the Huffhines case, but said he could provide no other information on her involvement."

 

[Timwis]

Greed at the expense of peoples health to the degree it can cause deaths, these sought of scum only care about themselves and any regret/remorse will actually just be feeling sorry for themselves for having to face the consequences of their selfish actions.

 

[RichJB]

Blimey, this seems like a shadowy industry. In another news story, I found pics of the carts seized by the police during the raid. It included carts branded with three different names. I tried to google those brands and only came up with articles describing how all three are "street brands" which are filled by people in their homes and then sold on the black market.

Apparently the business works almost like a franchise. The three brands have no website or online store. They are packaging companies who operate out of states that have legalised marijuana, usually California. They buy their cannabis oil legally there, package filling kits along with branded packaging, then sell it to people in states where marijuana is illegal. These people then mix up the kits at home and sell them on the street. So you could buy three boxes of Brand A carts and even though they all look the same, they could be mixed up by three different people in different 'facilities'. I use the air quotes because the 'facility' is usually a garage or back room.

But here's the kicker. Even these brands get counterfeited. So you could have four boxes of Brand A carts, two are 'original' from the packaging company, and two are counterfeited - and all four mixed by different people in different states.

What an absolute mess. I don't know how the cops, the regulators and the medical authorities are even going to start unraveling this. Let's say they do find a common brand in many of the cases, so you have fifty people who got ill all saying they vaped Brand X carts. First, they have to try and discover whether it's 'authentic' Brand X from the OG packaging company, or counterfeit Brand X. Even if it's authentic Brand X, they must then find out which refilling agent in which state sold the carts to the ill person. Then they have to figure out whether the problem is with the refilling package chemicals provided by the packaging company, or whether the refilling agent added their own chemicals into the mix.

There is no common linkage because even if it's all the same brand, that brand's products don't come from one mixing facility. It's going to take them months and months, if not longer, to try and sift through every case.

 

[Hooked]

The question is, why the deaths all of a sudden? One assumes that these blackmarket brands and their counterfeits have been around for a while, so why the problems now and nothing in the past?

Is it the first time that Vitamin E acetate has been added? If so, was the person(s) aware that it could cause death?

What about the pesticides that were found in some of the cartridges?

I'm just wondering if there isn't a psychopath out there who is deliberately contaminating cartridge and rubbing his hands in glee when someone dies.

I vaguely recall something similar happening in Japan, I think it was, with some or other food product. Not sure if my memory is accurate though.

 

[Hooked]

https://www.cbs58.com/news/4-suspects-linked-to-kenosha-county-thc-vaping-operation-plead-not-guilty

KENOSHA COUNTY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Four of the five suspects implicated in a Kenosha County THC vaping operation pleaded not guilty in court on Wednesday, Oct. 23.

[The fifth suspect] is due for an initial court appearance on Oct. 24.

 

[Chickenstrip]

The question is, why the deaths all of a sudden? One assumes that these blackmarket brands and their counterfeits have been around for a while, so why the problems now and nothing in the past?

Is it the first time that Vitamin E acetate has been added? If so, was the person(s) aware that it could cause death?

What about the pesticides that were found in some of the cartridges?

I'm just wondering if there isn't a psychopath out there who is deliberately contaminating cartridge and rubbing his hands in glee when someone dies.

I vaguely recall something similar happening in Japan, I think it was, with some or other food product. Not sure if my memory is accurate though.

In the States people were putting cyanide into over the counter pain killers for a while

 

[zadiac]

I think it takes time for the oil to make you sick. They could've been vaping it for a while and slowly the oil destroyed lung tissue and then suddenly they start to show symptoms. Just a thought.

 

[RichJB]

I think it's also possible that they used to make illicit THC juice differently. They were using ingredients that didn't make people sick. Then someone experimented with vit E acetate, it seemed to work, it was maybe cheap/easy to obtain, the word spread, and suddenly everybody is using it in the illicit THC field. And then, a few months after it was introduced, all hell breaks loose.

Let's face it, illicit THC juice mixers aren't the types who will do clinical trials on some new ingredient and wait for results before incorporating it into their juice. If it's cheap and cuts a corner, and it doesn't immediately taste foul or make them sick, they'll just add it without thinking any further.

 

[X-Calibre786]

I vaguely recall something similar happening in Japan, I think it was, with some or other food product. Not sure if my memory is accurate though.

This was melamine in milk powder and/or baby formula

 

[stevie g]

This was melamine in milk powder and/or baby formula

cyanide in candy

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.at...oisoned-japans-candy-and-never-got-caught.amp

 

[Hooked]

This was melamine in milk powder and/or baby formula

@X-Calibre786 No, the baby formula fiasco was in China.

 

[Hooked]

3 More People Charged
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/loc...sconsin-THC-vape-manufacturing-563841431.html
25 Oct. 2019

"Three more people have been charged in what investigators say was a large-scale black market THC vape manufacturing operation in southeastern Wisconsin.

The three are among eight people accused of manufacturing the THC vapes in Kenosha County. Court documents say the business had 10 workers and produced 4,000 to 5,000 vape cartridges a day (my highlight) that two brothers, 23-year-old Jacob Huffhines and 20-year-old Tyler Huffhines, were selling in Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota."

 

[Hooked]

Brothers charged in massive counterfeit ring that made THC vaping cartridges
https://wellstonjournal.com/brother...eit-ring-that-made-thc-vaping-cartridges.html
28 Nov. 2019

"Two brothers in Wisconsin have been charged in a large-scale counterfeit ring that manufactured thousands of THC vaping cartridges a day – believed to be one of the largest of its kind nationwide, authorities said.

Tyler Huffhines, 20, and 23-year-old brother Jacob Huffhines flew to California on Labor Day weekend with a plan for Tyler to use $300,000 he packed in a suitcase to buy 40 to 50 jars of THC oil for an illegal vaping manufacturing business that pumped out as many as 5,000 counterfeit cartridges a day, according to a criminal complaint . Some were labeled with names like Chronic Sour Patch and the batch included fruit-flavored varieties.

Tyler Huffhines admitted launching the multimillion-dollar scheme in January 2018 after seeing a potential moneymaker in THC vape cartridges sold in California for $2.50 apiece, which he could then flip in Wisconsin for $15 each, prosecutors allege.

Some of the vape cartridges seized by police had names like Chronic Sour Patch and other fruit-flavored varieties.Kenosha County Sheriff’s Dept.

Huffhines even posted photos of himself on Snapchat while flying in first class to California on Aug. 28. Detectives in Waukesha had been monitoring Huffhines’ social media account and were already privy to his plans, .

The brothers were arrested on Sept. 5 after police executed search warrants at their family’s home in Paddock Lake and a condo in Bristol that Tyler Huffhines allegedly rented under a false name.

The total street value of the seized THC cartridges exceeded $1.5 million. Investigators also recovered 98,000 unfilled cartridges, as well as $59,000 in cash, 57 jars filled with refined liquid THC and more than 18 pounds of marijuana, the Kenosha Sheriff’s Department .

Tyler Huffhines was charged Monday with maintaining a drug trafficking house, identity theft and possession of THC with intent to deliver over 10,000 grams. He is being held on $500,000 bond, jail records show.

Jacob Huffhines, who is facing gun and drug charges, remained held without bond Tuesday. He was on probation at the time of his arrest for dealing cocaine and told police he traveled to California with his brother to buy the THC oil, the Kenosha News reports.

An investigation into how directly involved Jacob Huffhines was in the operation is ongoing, Kenosha County Lt. Eric Klinkhammer told The Post.

“We believe they’re both involved,” Klinkhammer said by phone Tuesday.

Investigators also recovered thousands of empty vape cartridge boxes.Kenosha County Sheriff’s Depar

An attorney for Tyler Huffhines, meanwhile, said Monday during his initial court appearance that there’s no evidence connecting the young man to the spate of vaping-related illnesses across the country that have .

“There have been no deaths in Wisconsin,” attorney Mark Richards said.

But Huffhines allegedly admitted to boosting his profits in the scheme by switching to manufacturing the cartridges with 10 workers he hired rather than buying them as prepackaged units in California.

“You invest more, you make more,” Huffhines said, according to the criminal complaint. “No risk, no reward.”