Crime & Safety

Readers Call for Rally Against Family Accused of Running Drug Enterprise in Shelby

Five members of the Dabish family are facing felony charges stemming from allegations that they sold synthetic marijuana and other drugs from their gas station and smoke shop in Shelby Township.

An organized effort to rally the community against the family accused of selling K2 and other drugs out of a Shelby Township gas station and smoke shop began to manifest itself last weekend in the comments section of a Patch article concerning the case.

From a boycott of the family's Shelby Township businesses, to a rally outside the 41A District Court in opposition of possible plea deals, readers offered a number of suggestions to publicize the case and call for justice.

"As a community we need to rally against these hooligans and demand our local prosecutor to not accept any reduced pleas," wrote Sarah Franklin. "Nothing less than maximum incarceration is acceptable. Lets make sure as many of us as possible contact the Court and the Prosecutor about this."

Find out what's happening in Shelby-Uticawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Dabish family – a mother, two sons and two grandsons – face multiple felony charges stemming from allegations that they sold K2 and other drugs out of the former Citgo Gas Station, now Express Gas, and Woodstock Smoke Shop on Van Dyke at 21 Mile Road.

The five were arrested in October 2012 after Shelby Township police and federal agents raided the two family businesses and confiscated large quantities of the synthetic drug K2, also known as Spice, which was reportedly being sold even after it was banned in Macomb County. 

Find out what's happening in Shelby-Uticawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Investigators reported the suspects had been distributing synthetic marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, hydrocodone and marijuana out of their stores for several months.

The case against the family was recently postponed until March for purposes of discovery, to which Franklin added:

"That gives us all lots of time to plan for a huge demonstration at the courthouse with the proposed theme being ... Shelby residents against any Dabish plea bargains -- full trial with maximum jail terms for all needs to be our rallying cry!"

Other commenters advocated a boycott of the businesses implicated in the case:

  • "Stop shopping with them, there are plenty of gas stations & smoke shops within a stones throw of them that are happy to serve our community & truly appreciate our patronage," wrote one reader.
  • "Maybe if the community can get together and get many to stand out front of both establishments, people will change their minds on spending any of their legally hard earned money there!" added another.

The gas station and smoke shop were previously the target of a protest in June 2012, during which more than 200 people from across metro Detroit called for both businesses to end their K2 sales.

Like Patch on Facebook | Follow Patch on Twitter | Sign up for Patch's free daily e-newsletter

What do you think of these "calls to action"? Tell us in the comments.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.