Zour Stash, a Texas-based hemp distributor, says a highly publicized raid by the Waller County Sheriff’s Department and the Houston Police Department was based on faulty intelligence and resulted in the improper seizure of federally legal hemp.
Company representatives say officers searched a Waller warehouse and took palletized goods that, by law, qualify as hemp under the 2018 farm bill, which defines hemp as cannabis containing no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC on a dry-weight basis.
The company says each box included a hemp license, a letter for law enforcement and certificates of analysis from independent labs. Zour Stash also disputes law enforcement’s public claim about the scale of the operation, saying officers misreported what was taken and how much it weighed.
“No seizure documents were provided to Zour Stash. There were no gummy or edibles products, no raw or bulk flower products, and no vape cartridges taken. Even the cited weight of 6,500 lbs is wrong. The correct weight of the product taken is 520 lbs according to the packaging, and the shipping weight was 3,000 lbs as listed on the bill of lading,” said a representative from Zour Stash. “This seems to be more about appearing on the nightly news than a bona fide police action. Due process has not been conducted. This is a legal action by Facebook posting.”
Attorneys for the company say the seizure fits a broader pattern in Texas where legal hemp inventories are taken but cases don’t advance to forfeiture or criminal charges.
“This dubious seizure is part of an alarming trend in Texas, targeting legitimate, hard-working, American businesspeople who are selling legal products to veterans, cancer patients, and the elderly, as well as those people who simply need the product for things like sleep. We are involved with several similar cases,” said David Sergi of San Marcos-based Sergi & Associates. “Overzealous law enforcement seizes federally and Texas legal hemp products, but never moves to either forfeit the products or charge anyone criminally. This is essentially theft, and we will no longer tolerate it.”
Sergi said the company wants the inventory returned and warned litigation could follow if it isn’t. “The products must be returned, or we will have no choice but to pursue litigation. We would rather educate than litigate, and we hope that most responsible enforcement agencies will not engage in Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Senator Charles Perry’s vendetta after Governor Greg Abbott vetoed SB3. Local law enforcement needs to stop relying on faulty testing and problematic legal procedures and allow these businesses to continue to provide hemp products that help so many Texans,” he concluded.
Law enforcement agencies involved had not issued formal court filings by press time, and Zour Stash says it has not received seizure documentation. The company maintains the products meet both federal and Texas hemp standards and are supported by testing records.
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