Mega-pot bust in Fillmore County triggers DEA interest
By Bill Kelly 
, Senior Reporter/Producer Nebraska Public Media
April 23, 2018, 4:59 a.m. ·
A huge pot trafficking bust in Fillmore County has become part of a broader DEA investigation which may include money laundering of millions of dollars from made from illegal marijuana sales.
Micheal Cardis (Photo: Fillmore Co Sheriff)
Storage containers, purportedly filled with marijuana, taken from cargo van driven by Cardis. (Photo: Nebraska State Patrol)
A highlight from the affidavit filed by the Fillmore County Attorney.
Michael Cardis of Arvada, Colorado was arrested by the Nebraska State Patrol after being stopped outside Geneva on Highway 81. The van was stuffed with boxes and shipping containers containing, by law enforcement’s estimate, $5 million dollars-worth of marijuana and products created from cannabis extracts. State illegal drug possession and sales charges have been filed.
In the affidavit filed late last week, County Attorney Jill Cunningham states someone associated with the owner the Mercedes van may be involved in money laundering and federal charges could be filed in the case.
Court documents state the Mercedes cargo van is registered to an Idaho-based company, Homeland Technologies, of Shelley, Idaho.
Business records obtained by NET News list the owner of the company as being among those indicted in a 2013 Colorado marijuana-related tax fraud case.
That case, filed by the Colorado Attorney General, accused 12 people, owners and associates of three marijuana dispensaries, of running an illegal pot growing operation and a scam to defraud investors. NET News attempted to contact the attorney general’s office to clarify the disposition of those charges. There has been no reply.
According to an affidavit on file in Fillmore County, Federal DEA agents also stated they have evidence of over 50 suspicious electronic banking transactions involving large amounts of money.
Cardis is scheduled to for his initial appearance in Fillmore County Court on May 5. The County Attorney requested a higher bond after learning “a female friend” had contacted the Sheriff’s Department and said she was on her way from Colorado with $25,000 in cash to bail Cardis out of jail.