Denver Pot Bust: Operation Toker Poker Brings 74 Indictments

Forty-three people are in custody. Nineteen more are being sought. Four thousand pounds of marijuana was seized. Twenty-six hundred marijuana plants were taken. It was part of Operation Toker Poker, a multi-year, multi-agency operation that resulted in 74 indictments announced Wednesday in Denver.

In addition to the 62 people - some of whom met in high school - the indictment names 12 businesses that allegedly played a role in what prosecutors say was a multi-million dollar operation that grew marijuana in Colorado and then sold it out of state.

The marijuana was sold in places like Kansas, Nebraska, Ohio, and Texas. (For more information on this and other local stories, subscribe to your local Patch for breaking news alerts.)

The indictment states that some of the leaders of the operation - some of whom would often play poker together, hence the name of the operation - also lured real investors including two former members of the Denver Broncos by telling them they were investing in legitimate marijuana businesses.

Prosecutors say that members of the group created fake businesses and laundered tens of thousands of dollars every month.

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