Today is the twenty-seventh anniversary of the Seattle Police Department raiding the Music Bank as part of its investigation into the massive marijuana growing operation taking place next door. (NOTE: The $30 million figure in the title of this post is from an estimate Seattle PD gave to at least one reporter after the raid.) The story of how and why Seattle PD discovered the operation is covered in my book.

The following photo shows then-Seattle Police Department chief Patrick Fitzsimons looking at the marijuana his officers seized during the raid which took place on July 20, 1988.  The photo originally ran in the July 22, 1988 edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and is now part of the Seattle P-I Collection at the Museum of History and Industry. It is posted on this site with MOHAI’s permission.