CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- On the outside Jminto Production appears to be a recording studio. But last Monday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg vice officers and members of the D.E.A. raided the business on North Tryon Street.
"I wasn’t here when it happened. It was about 9:30 at night. One of the other tenants was here said there was about 15 cop cars, all plain clothes," said Greg Betz, who runs a battery recycling shop next door.
According to a search warrant, investigators found nearly 500 pounds of marijuana in a crate inside Jminto’s.
A lot of neighbors were surprised, including one man who did not want to be identified. "I was shocked because the guys over there were peaceful. They never messed with anybody so I was kind of shocked about it all," he said.
Court records show the crate was shipped from Signal Hill, California to a trucking company in China Grove. A drug dog alerted on it there and vice officers waited for it to be delivered to Jminto’s before moving in.
Agents said that prior to the bust Jminto Production received four other shipments from the same source ranging in weight from 650 to 930 pounds.
30-year-old Javar Minott, the owner of Jminto’s, was arrested on marijuana trafficking charges. Police also said they found nearly $20,000 in cash at Minott’s university area home.
