WASHINGTON REQUESTS RAID ON B.C. 'POT PRINCE'

VANCOUVER - Vancouver police raided a marijuana-seed business run by the
leader of B.C's Marijuana Party under a request from the U.S. government
yesterday.

Marc Emery, 47, who was referred to as the "Prince of Pot" on the search
warrant, was arrested yesterday by RCMP and police in Halifax. He is
charged in the U.S. with conspiracy to distribute marijuana, conspiracy to
distribute marijuana seeds, and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.

Gregory Keith Williams, 50, and Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, 34, who are
alleged to be Mr. Emery's business partners, were also arrested in Vancouver.

Chris Bennett was working in Mr. Emery's Vancouver store yesterday morning
when two undercover Vancouver police officers walked in. "I was on the
phone and these guys who looked like hippies walked in and told me to hang
the phone up," Mr. Bennett said.

Police took down storefront signs and covered the windows with paper, while
pro-marijuana protesters chanted "Go Home USA, Go Home USA."

The search was requested by the U.S. government through the Mutual
Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, Candian legislation that was enacted in
1985.

U.S. authorities say the search warrant and arrests are the result of an
18-month investigation into Mr. Emery's international seed-selling business.

Christian Girouard, spokesman for the federal Department of Justice, would
not comment on the warrants but said requests from the U.S. under the
Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act are not uncommon. Mr.
Girouard said the Department of Justice reviews each request under the Act
before forwarding it to the appropriate parties.

Halifax police spokesman Const. Mark Hobeck said Mr. Emery, who has been
selling seeds by telephone, mail or Internet since 1994, was arrested
yesterday afternoon just outside Halifax.