Seattle police arrest three adults for selling pot to kids

SEATTLE — Police arrested three adults on Wednesday for selling marijuana to school-age children.

Police said that they received complaints about middle and high school students buying marijuana and marijuana-laced brownies from a residence in the 6700 block of 15th Avenue Northwest earlier this month.

Narcotics detectives launched an investigation and detectives observed students from Ballard High School and Whitman Middle School going to the back door of a residence and buying marijuana.

On Wednesday morning, Seattle Police SWAT officers, narcotics detectives and North Precinct patrol officers served a search warrant on the residence. Five adults were inside; they were detained and interviewed by detectives.

The primary suspect, a 50-year-old male, was arrested at his place of employment by narcotics detectives.

Marijuana cigarettes, brownies and multiple bags of marijuana were found in several rooms in the residence, police said. Seven trays of marijuana brownies were reportedly found in the basement, along with a marijuana-growing operation. Detectives also found multiple firearms in the primary suspect's bedroom.

Police said the following were recovered from the residence:
1,200 grams of marijuana (total amount)
99 marijuana cigarettes, or "joints" (part of the 1,200 grams)
7 marijuana plants from an active growing setup in the basement
8 trays of marijuana brownies
4 shotguns
1 .22-caliber rifle
6 handguns
2 pellet guns
$4,755 in U.S. currency

Detectives conducted an extensive interview with the primary suspect. They booked him, a 21-year-old male and a 21-year-old female into the King County Jail for investigation of felony drug dealing.

Police identified the three people they arrested as Alejandro Castillo, Sofia Castillo and Jorge Hernandez.

The other three people in the house were released pending further investigation.

Seattle police officials spoke with school administrators at Ballard High School and Whitman Middle School Wednesday morning to inform them of the police search warrant.

"I-502 made some marijuana products legal in Washington state," Detective Jeff Kappel said. "One of the things it didn't do was make it legal to sell marijuana to school-age children."

KIRO