Ten illegally operating marijuana dispensaries were raided across Riverside County Thursday, authorities said.
Search warrants were served by the countywide Cannabis Regulation Task Force, said John Hall, a spokesman for the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. The dispensaries had been under investigation for several months, and none were licensed to sell cannabis or cannabis products, according to Hall.
Four out of the 10 raided dispensaries were located in Hemet, with the rest scattered around the county, including Banning, Jurupa Valley, Thousand Palms and Temecula.
The task force seized about 90 pounds of “finished cannabis product and a large amount of cannabis edible” from eight of the 10 locations and made two arrests, including one for the possession of a stolen handgun, according to the D.A.’s office.
“The aim of the task force is not to shut down legally operating facilities, but rather to ensure fair business practices and keep criminal activity out of the legal cannabis industry and out of our communities,” Hall said. “When dispensaries operate without following the law or regulations, their unfair business practices impact those dispensaries which are obeying the law. Illegal or unlicensed dispensaries also may be providing customers with untested and potentially harmful products.”
The task force served its first warrant on Aug. 23 in Jurupa Valley, and includes personnel from the D.A.’s Bureau of Investigation, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and the Hemet and the Riverside police departments.
Several other agencies, such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and police from Cathedral City, Corona and Palm Springs were also involved in the latest raids.