A man arrested on suspicion of unlawfully opening a marijuana dispensary in Costa Mesa was charged Monday with four misdemeanor counts of unlawful transportation, sale and furnishing of marijuana.
Omid Delkash, 47, of Newport Beach was arrested on Friday and was being held in lieu of $150,000 bail, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Delkash is accused of opening a business, the Church of Peace and Glory, in March in the 1600 block of Irvine Boulevard, according to District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Michelle Van Der Linden.
“Due to citizen complaints, the Costa Mesa Police Department Special Investigations Unit investigated the location for several months starting in May 2018, Van Der Linden said. “Costa Mesa Code Enforcement issued the location two citations for unlawfully operating a marijuana dispensary. On May 9, 2018 and June 5, 2018, Delkash is accused of selling marijuana to customers.”
Delkash led code enforcement officers on a walk-through of the location on June 14 to show the so-called church was not operating as a marijuana dispensary, but authorities allege he sold marijuana to customers on the same day, Van Der Linden said.
“He is also accused of selling marijuana to customers on July 17,” she said.
A warrant was served at the location on Friday and authorities seized marijuana, edibles and tobacco products, according to Van Der Linden.
Any type of retail sales of marijuana and/or marijuana products within the Costa Mesa’s boundaries are prohibited by local ordinance.
Wholesale medical marijuana distributing, manufacturing, processing and transporting is permissible, as is the establishment of a laboratory for research and development, but not without a permit approved by the city. Further, all commercial cannabis activity in California requires a license from one of the state’s three cannabis-licensing authorities.