Russell Industrial Center Raid: Federal Drug Enforcement Agents Descend On Artist Studio Space

Federal drug enforcement agents raided part of a Detroit warehouse known for its market and artist studios, and more recently its medical marijuana facilities, on Friday.

Dozens of agents from The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency entered the grounds of the the Russell Industrial Center at I-75 and Clay St. at 10:18 a.m., the Detroit News reports.

Detroit DEA spokesman Special Agent Rich Isaacson said agents had a search warrant. He said he could not comment further because the raid was part of an ongoing investigation.

The Russell Industrial Center hosts 150 commercial tenants including architects, painters, clothing designers, glass blowers, wood craftsman, metal sculptors and graphic designers. Several medical marijuana businesses are also located on the premises.

Jeff Wenzel helps run a music studio at the Russell Industrial Center. He told HuffPost in an email that he hoped news of the bust would not take the spotlight away from the artists and creative people who work at the space.

"We are really trying to hard to have a positive energy and space where a community can create together," he wrote. "When we started seeing lots and lots of growers moving in we just didn't want that vibe infringing on our studio."

The DEA sweep of the warehouse complex is Detroit's third high-profile marijuana-related incident in the last several weeks. In January, Detroit police raided a warehouse and seized 800 marijuana plants, coinciding with the launch of a local campaign to legalize marijuana. Earlier this week, the DEA announced the indictment of twelve members of a Detroit-based drug ring, including former State Rep. Kenneth Daniels, who had been repeatedly busted. Over several years law officials seized more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana as well as large quantities of heroin and cocaine.