Unauthorized marijuana shop reopens in new trailer on Wellington Street

Contents of the article

An unauthorized marijuana store that was raided by police over the summer has reopened in a new trailer just meters from the one that previously housed the business.

In June, a cannabis enforcement team led by the Ontario Provincial Police began investigating the illegal sale of marijuana at two dispensaries in London and another on Chippewas in Thames First Nation, operating as Spirit River, which were not licensed by the Liquor and Gambling Authority. The Ontario Commission, the province’s regulatory body, says OPP.

Contents of the article

The businesses said they were run by First Nations and said cannabis laws passed in 2018, when Canada became the second country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana, did not apply to them.

On Aug. 20, police searched a trailer at 72 Wellington St., a storefront at 685 Richmond St. and a Chippewas outlet, charging five people and seizing cannabis products, contraband tobacco, magic mushrooms and cash, OPP said.

But the Spirit River store on Wellington Street is back in business and running out of another trailer in the parking lot south of the city center, while the Richmond Row store remains closed.

Police are aware of the newly opened dispensary, a spokesman for the anti-cannabis group said.

“The investigation is ongoing and we are unable to comment at this time,” Angie Sloan said in an email.

The operator of the Wellington Street store was unavailable for comment Monday, according to an employee who said the store had been open for several weeks.

After police raided stores in London and Chippewas, a sign was placed on a trailer on Wellington Street warning that permission from the Supreme Court was required to enter.

Contents of the article

“If you enter this building without court permission, you may be charged with breaking and entering (or other related charges),” reads a sign posted on the front door.

A London police spokesman referred all inquiries about black market cannabis shops to the Cannabis Enforcement Team.

More than 50 licensed cannabis shops opened across London on April 1, when the city’s first store opened at 666 Wonderland Rd. after the province awarded a limited number of licenses through a now-cancelled lottery system. All licensed dispensaries must purchase their products through the Ontario Cannabis Store, a government wholesaler and delivery service.

[email protected]
@DaleatLFPress

Share this article on your social network