Search warrants have been served at 10 inland Southern California marijuana dispensaries allegedly operating without licenses, including one business posing as an ice cream store.
The Riverside County district attorney’s cannabis regulation task force moved in Thursday after several months of investigations.
The DA’s office says by late afternoon about 90 pounds of finished cannabis product and a large amount of cannabis edibles had been seized from eight of the locations.
One person was arrested for felony possession of a stolen handgun. Another was arrested on a misdemeanor warrant for driving on a suspended license.
In Hemet, authorities came across one pot shop called “Valley Ice Cream.”
“But it wasn’t ice cream being sold there, it was cannabis at an illegally operating dispensary,” the DA’s office said in a tweet.
Our countywide Cannabis Regulation Task Force raided 10 illegally operating cannabis dispensaries across Riverside County today, including a location show here in Thousand Palms. For more details, see the news release here: https://t.co/OIftKAqkhV #rivconow @rivconow pic.twitter.com/gNZ9uAh3yv
— Riverside County DA's Office (@RivCoDA) February 1, 2019
The DA’s office says the task force is trying to ensure fair business practices and keep criminal activity out of the legal cannabis industry.
The 10 locations targeted by the raids include:
- Hidden Gem at 125 East Stetson Avenue in Hemet
- Herbs and Essential Oils at 207 East Mayberry Avenue in Hemet
- Hemet Healing at 207 East Florida Avenue in Hemet
- Valley Ice Cream at 125 North Tahquitz Avenue in Hemet
- Green Empire at 72911 Ramon Road in Thousand Palms
- Green Garage at 19065 Grand Avenue in Lake Elsinore
- Cannabis Castle at 27645 Jefferson Avenue in Temecula
- Reefer Shop at 6058 Mission Blvd in Jurupa Valley
- The Mission Greens at 9646 Mission Boulevard in Jurupa Valley
- Supreme Cannabis Club at 4186 Ramsey Street in Banning
