Feds raid home of Packard plant owner in wide-ranging pot probe

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Robert Snell and Mike Martindale /
The Detroit News

Federal drug agents have raided the home of and a medical marijuana dispensary owned by controversial businessman Romel Casab, who also owns the long-shuttered Packard Motor Car Co. plant.

A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration official confirmed agents executed search warrants today at Casab’s home along Benstein Road in Commerce Township and his CareGivers of America marijuana dispensary on 12 Mile in Novi.

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The two raids were part of a broader DEA operation targeting at least four other locations in Walled Lake and Detroit, The Detroit News has learned.

The DEA raided a second CareGivers dispensary along Decker Road in Walled Lake. The building is owned by 1020 Decker LLC, a company headed by Casab lawyer Barry A. Steinway of Bingham Farms, according to state business records.

Also raided today: the Bayside Sports Grille on East Walled Lake Drive in Walled Lake and Coliseum Bar & Grill strip club on Eight Mile in Detroit.

The Walled Lake sports bar and Detroit strip club are owned by Walled Lake businessman Johni Semma, whose home overlooking Walled Lake also was raided by agents today. Agents hauled away his 2001 Harley Davidson today from the Novi marijuana facility owned by Casab, along with a Ferrari sports car and 1928 Studebaker.

Casab made headlines last fall when he sued a local art gallery that removed a mural at the plant reportedly painted by famed graffiti artist Banksy.

Casab, a land speculator with varied business interests, is listed on state business records as resident agent of CareGivers of America LLC, which is based in an office on 12 Mile in Novi. He formed the company in November 2009.

The search warrants are sealed in U.S. District Court in Detroit and DEA group supervisor Andrew Eiseman declined comment about what prompted the raids or what items were being seized by agents. He also declined comment about whether the raids are part of a broader crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries.

“I can’t comment on anything,” he said. “It’s an ongoing investigation.”

Casab could not be reached for comment today.

Along with CareGivers, Casab is president of Bioresource Inc., which sued art gallery 555 Nonprofit Studio and Gallery. After Bioresource sued to reclaim the graffiti mural, Detroit officials threatened to demolish the Packard plant and bill Casab.

The 100-year-old plant is one of Detroit’s most notorious symbols of decline and despair.

Its ownership has been disputed in court for years.

Casab has drawn federal scrutiny before.

As recently as July 2004, the FBI was investigating complaints that Metro Detroit’s suburban bus system had repeatedly overpaid one of Casab’s companies.

Employees claimed that the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) overpaid the International Bus Center in New Haven, which is owned by Casab.

The Walled Lake search started after 7 a.m. today, agents said.

In Novi, police still were at a CareGivers facility on West 12 Mile, west of Novi Road about 11:40 a.m. today. Several large trucks were at the facility, backed up to large bays. The site is in an isolated area.

The facility’s building had no signs or banners to announce it was open for business.

Police at the scene in Novi declined comment. A CareGivers employee also declined comment.

The raids come eight months after seven people were arrested in a medical marijuana crackdown in Waterford Township. The seven were arraigned Thursday in Oakland County Circuit Court.

Under state law, people who have obtained physician approval and state-issued cards are permitted to possess and use marijuana.

Licensed caregivers are permitted to grow up to 12 plants in controlled situations and sell marijuana to up to five patients.

Always great to see the war on everything being channeled through the war on marijuana. UA

9 COMMENTS

  1. I can’t grasp why these stories keep poppin up all over our news feeds. Seems like the DEA and the heads of government are starting to take this whole busting medical growers way too personally

  2. I can’t agree more. I personally feel that they look at us as easy targets. It’s the easiest way for them to prove their authority. Pick on the weak. Pathetic.

  3. David Kutek was arrested along with Romel after $43,000 worth of stolen engines and transmissions were discovered in a trailer during the raid. David Kutek retired from the Redford Township Police Department and was Chief of Security at the GM Hamtramck Plant, David Kutek was arrested and convicted of Larceny from a Building in 2014 then another Felony conviction in 2016 for Lying to a Federal Agent.
    David Kutek is Michigan’s most corrupt cop.

  4. David Kutek was arrested after $43,000 worth of stolen engines and transmissions were discovered in the 2011 DEA raid. David Kutek was arrested and convicted of Larceny from a Building in 2014 ( stealing from an elderly woman). Then in 2016 David Kutek was convicted of lying to a Federal Agent another Felony.
    David Kutek was Michigan’s most corrupt cop (retired Redford Township Police Officer).

  5. Romel Casab and David Kutek both have multiple felonies arrests and only a few convictions. Romel Casab appears to have 3 convictions and David Kutek has 2 felony convictions for theft and lying to a Federal Agent

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