Cops: Owner sold marijuana wax at Brookfield garden shop
Shawn Odneal (left), James Wright | Riverside police
BROOKFIELD (Sun-Times Media Wire) - Police raided an indoor gardening storefront Thursday in west suburban Brookfield where authorities say the owner was selling highly concentrated marijuana wax.
Shawn Odneal, the 41-year-old owner of Root 66 Aquaponic Garden Shop at 8863 Burlington Ave., faces a felony charge of manufacturing and delivering cannabis, according to Riverside police, who conducted a monthlong investigation of the business with Brookfield police.
Odneal ordered marijuana from California to turn it into a THC concentrate known as wax or “shatter,” which can be up to 20 times more potent than regular marijuana when smoked with a vaporizer or pipe, police said. He then sold it out of a back room of his shop, police allege.
While executing a search warrant at the store, investigators found marijuana, wax, scales, cannabis seeds, grinders, bongs and a loaded Ruger handgun, police said.
Also arrested during the bust was 51-year-0ld Lyons resident James W. Wright. Police didn’t say if he had a stake in the business, but he was in the shop when the search warrant was executed. He faces a felony charge of manufacturing and delivering cannabis for allegedly selling legally obtained medical marijuana for a profit, police said.