Los Angeles Police Report Hundreds of Illegal Marijuana Shops in the City
Although Los Angeles City Hall has already issued around 100 business licenses for marijuana operations, city police believe there are twice as many underground, unregistered shops within city limits that do not pay taxes or fees. These illegal establishments can seriously undermine the development of the legal marijuana market by taking profits away from legitimate businesses.
Over the past month, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has identified and shut down eight such shops, promising to step up efforts against unlicensed marijuana businesses in the future.
Recent Raids and Arrests
In addition to the 35 people detained during January raids on illegal shops, police have arrested four more suspected unlicensed marijuana sellers this month. Captain Steven Carmona, who leads the operation to uncover underground shops, told reporters that these businesses often do not bother to hide their activities, pretending to be legal stores and misleading neighbors and customers about having a business license.
“At this point, these illegal shops, disguised as licensed medical or recreational businesses, exist in almost every corner of the city,” noted Los Angeles Deputy Police Chief John Sherman.
Scope of the Problem
Officially, the city has issued business permits to only 99 private marijuana enterprises. However, according to Sherman, police patrols report that there are between 200 and 300 unregistered shops on the streets of Los Angeles. These shops actively lure customers away from the few legal businesses by offering products at lower prices that do not include taxes or fees.
It’s worth noting that this number may be exaggerated, as last June, City Hall estimated there were about 1,700 underground marijuana businesses operating in Los Angeles.
Details of Recent Arrests
The four suspects arrested last week were employees of an illegal marijuana shop located in the Pacoima area. According to investigators, the shop previously advertised itself as a fully legal medical establishment until police attention forced the owners to go underground. After the owners removed the sign and asked customers to enter through a service entrance, police realized the shop did not have any form of license to distribute marijuana.
One of the suspects was a security guard at the shop, and during a search, police found a loaded firearm on him. Additionally, several more handguns were found in the shop’s safe, one of which had been reported stolen two months earlier.
Ongoing Police Efforts
At a press conference following the latest raid, Deputy Chief Sherman stated that the LAPD will continue to track down and close such unlicensed establishments.
“Of course, this operation won’t be as simple as it might seem at first glance. We don’t know the addresses or names of businesses operating without a license, since unlike legal marijuana shops, they constantly change locations, moving from one part of the city to another,” said Mr. Sherman.
Police will prioritize investigating establishments that have already received complaints from unhappy neighbors or deceived customers.
“Despite the status of these businesses, we still can’t inspect them without a proper court warrant,” Sherman noted. “Unfortunately, bureaucratic issues are far from the only or even the main obstacle in fighting this kind of business. These criminals are cunning and may have a good reputation among their neighbors and customers, despite their illegal status, which also makes it harder for us to combat underground operations.”