John Marsh 
Updated July 18th, 2019
A California man was sentenced to more than 60 months in federal prison for creating synthetic cannabinoids and shipping hundreds of pounds of the cannabinoids to vendors throughout the United States for resale.
According to United States Attorney McGregor W. Scott of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California, Haitham Eid Habash, 55, had played an important role in one of the largest synthetic cannabinoid operations in the United States. He helped operate this drug trafficking operation from Magic Man’s Wholesale Store, a shop in Bakersfield, California. The investigation, launched in 2015 by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), netted more than 150 co-conspirators who had direct connections to the drug trafficking organization. At the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California in Fresno, the sentencing judge sentenced Habash to 63 months in prison. The judge also ordered a monetary forfeiture.
In 2015, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration launched “Project Synergy III” in attempt to end the production and distribution of synthetic cannabinoids in the United States. At the time, drug traffickers pushed synthetic cannabinoids as research chemicals. If not intended for human consumption, the drugs—falling under the research chemical or “RC” umbrella—did not violate any of the United States drug laws. The Federal Analogue Act was the only law that covered synthetic cannabinoids and other research chemicals that mimicked Schedule I and II drugs. And the Federal Analogue Act only impacted the users of the substances and the sellers who intentionally sold to customers for consumption instead of research. Project Synergy III was launched after the Drug Enforcement Agency discovered that a large number of the synthetic cannabinoid vendors had catered to drug users instead of the scientific community.
Many of those synthetic cannabinoid vendors, law enforcement learned after raiding their shops and houses, purchased their synthetic cannabinoids from the same supplier. In this case, Habash was the supplier that many of the research chemical vendors had in common. Habash, according to the indictment filed on October 8, 2015, had personally developed working relationships with labs in China capable of producing massive amounts of the raw chemicals used in the conspiracy. Habash, often operating under the name Eddie, imported hundreds of pounds of raw synthetic cannabinoids. Some of the synthetic cannabinoids Habash had imported were legal research chemicals. Others had already been added to Schedule I of the controlled substances list. Eventually, the DEA added all of the substances Habash had been importing to Schedule I. Habash continued with his operation despite the DEA’s new drug classifications.
On April 14, 2015, law enforcement in California intercepted more than 90 pounds of assorted synthetic cannabinoids. Due to the scale of the operation, dozens of law enforcement agencies joined the DEA in the investigation into Habash and his organization. The DEA received help from the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation branch, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the California Highway Patrol, the Kern County Probation Office, and the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Investigators quickly learned that Habash’s shop in Bakersfield, California, served as the base of operations for Habash’s drug trafficking conspiracy. His shop, Magic Man Wholesale Store, served as a legitimate storefront for his legal business. Through various websites, including the one linked to his physical shop, Habash advertised bulk quantities of various blends of synthetic cannabinoids on smokable plant matter, often referred to as “spice.” Blue Whale Wholesale and World of Incense served as his primary storefronts.
Spice blends consist of synthetic cannabinoids and a form of smokable plant matter such as damania. At his workshop, Habash dissolved the chemicals into various solvents and then sprayed the solvent onto the plant matter. The solvent evaporated, leaving behind only trace amounts of the medium and a dose of a specific synthetic cannabinoid. According to the DEA, Habash used XLR11, AB-Chminaca, and AB-Pinaca in the creation of his own spice blends. He sold a popular blend called “Bizarro” and a blend of his own creation called “Mr. High.”
When federal law enforcement officers raided Habash’s facility, they seized more than 1,000 pounds of Habash’s spice blends. Habash and his primary co-defendant, Ramsey Jeries Farraj, had made a combined total of 4.2 million dollars as designer drug manufacturers. Farraj recently pleaded guilty to handling the financial side of the operation. Cases against other co-defendants are still pending.
