Last week, we got a hold of the affidavit justifying the late October raids on Capitol Hemp’s Adams Morgan and Chinatown locations. Yesterday, we happened across the affidavits supporting the raids on two others Adams Morgan head shops — Shiva and B&K News Stand.

The reasoning behind those two raids is much the same as the raids of Capitol Hemp’s two locations — both Shiva and B&K sold water pipes and other smoking implements, which, depending on how you look at them, are either innocent means of smoking tobacco or illicit and deceptively labelled bongs used for marijuana.

But along with water pipes, both Adams Morgan head shops sold false compartment containers that police argue are used to conceal drugs. From the affidavit justifying the raid on Shiva:

Your Affiant also observed multiple false compartment cans, etc. The devices appear to be a can of soda or iced tea however; one the top or bottom is unscrewed the center is hollow with a casing around it that attempts to nullify odors. Your Affiant asked a female sales associate “So, if you hide something smelly in here it will hide the smell?” The sales associate shook her head up and down indicating yes. Your Affiant askd “Really, so if I were to put some weed in here, you know, marijuana, you can’t smell it when it’s closed? The sales associate replied “No” and proceeded to open it and show your Affiant the liner in the can which nullifies odor. While these false compartment cans, etc. alone are not illegal, when surrounded by items used to consume, process, and weigh marijuana, and considering the sales associate admitted marijuana could be concealed in it, its clear they are sold to traffic narcotics safely.

Of course, one of the companies that makes these false compartment cans will disagree that they’re used exclusively to conceal drugs. (One of the cans is pictured above.)

Much like with the raids of Capitol Hemp, the District’s murky drug paraphernalia laws forced police to draw conclusions about what a pipe, scale or can on sale at Shiva and B&K could be used for based on context. In all cases, police officers directly and openly referenced the use of marijuana while in the stores; in Capitol Hemp’s case, the mention was rebuffed, and Shiva’s, it wasn’t.

In fact, in every case, the reference to marijuana use by an undercover police officer was so overt that it bordered on the comical. But that’s what makes cases for the sale of drug paraphernalia — intent by the seller to allow for the breaking of drug laws has to be shown.