Meeting a Black-Market Marijuana Dealer | Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller

[Music] One of the big players in that world, someone I'm told moves more than a million dollars worth of product daily, has agreed to meet me. Well, kind of.

Okay, we ready? So I'm currently in an empty room and in front of a table with nine pounds of all sorts of different kinds of weed. George, I'm just explaining what's happening to the cameras because it feels really weird that it's just me here. So I'm just explaining.

George didn't want his actual voice recorded. George is actually out of view; he didn't feel comfortable being on camera, but he can hear me because of my mic. So we're using a voice changer that alters it while he speaks.

If I were a buyer, I would come in here; you'd have all these bags out here with the different samples. They'd look at it, smell it, possibly try it, smoke it. Some smoking butters really just, you know, based off the smell mainly. And then they place orders, is that it?

No. On the table is a variety of high-end exotic indoor and outdoor weed. Each pound bag costs between two thousand and four thousand dollars. What's the largest order you've ever received?

[Music] Just one order that size is worth around a million dollars. How much money is there to be paid in illegal weed?

Endless response. I should really be talking about this to someone like a camera. I decide not to push it. So, George, you operate just a black market business, or do you operate also a legal business, a license as well?

If you were to give me a general sense of how much money you make with your legal versus your illegal business, what would you say?

Well, technically, I haven't made profit off my legal business yet. Wow! They try to kill you with fewest taxes, regulations, groups who jump through inspections. They go ten times overboard than any other business. I wish for them to go through the same regulations.

So why operate a legal business if you're not even making money out of that?

For the love of it. Why do I recite the pain? Or what is this thing? I like to sing. I'm rolling with the punches now and just hanging in there so the big business doesn't just take all the original people out, you know?

You don't feel comfortable with even being in the same room. Why do you think there's so much, uh, fear and mistrust?

It's kind of ingrained in that culture. You can't really trust people, and that just comes with money and greed. And when people are greedy, bad things happen.

Do you carry a gun?

I, you really have no choice but to use it.

[Music]