Who will protect retail pot & cash? Former military troops to offer security service

Marine veteran Adan Yescas' local security company, Apace 6, will be providing security for some legal marijuana shops and their transportation of cash and product. (Photo: KCPQ-TV)



SEATTLE -- Retail marijuana stores are set to open on July 8 -- and sales are expected to be high.

A team of highly trained local veterans is preparing to protect tens of thousands of dollars, business owners and even you.

"When you got that kind of cash rolling around, no one feels safe," said Marine veteran Adan Yescas, whose local security company, Apace 6, is on a mission to change that.

The "cannabis industry is high-risk because of the crops, you know, the crops and the cash," Yescas said. "Everybody wants their hands on the product and the cash."

Yescas said that starting July 8, his company -- composed solely of military veterans -- will be providing on-site security and armed transportation for several retail marijuana shops all over the state.

"Even though, federally, it's still illegal, from the state side, for our veterans, that opens up a whole new market, new jobs, for us," Yescas said.  "We are so used to providing service protecting others, and I wanted to bring all those skills that we have learned over the past years and use that to our advantage and work with the public and protect the public."

Those who live and work near cannabis shops say the extra security is a comforting.



Cindy Graham, of Lakewood, said, "I think it's a fantastic idea. I would feel much safer. They can't have police escorts, obviously."

"I don't know what they're going to be doing moving all that money around, somebody is going to try to take it," she said.

Yescas said, "They need to be able to transport their money in a safe manner. I would say some would be 30, $60,000 every day or so."

Yescas says the crops and the cash make his clients high-risk targets, and that potential danger trickles down to those around them throughout the community

He said that having the experienced eye of a veteran will make this journey into the uncharted territory of the cannabis world that much safer

"We're taking a really high-skilled operator and put them in a situation where, God willing nothing ever happens, but if it does we are prepared to meet that challenge," Yescas said.

Come July, Apache 6 says you likely won't notice them out on the roads or in your neighborhoods -- and that's because they'll on the job, dressed in street clothes, to attract the least attention as possible.