Dennis RomeroCops raided a pair of marijuana dispensaries in Woodland Hills yesterday for alleged “illegal sales” of marijuana, the LAPD said in a statement last night.
The department wouldn't reveal which pot shops were hit, but a witness told the Weekly they were Green Joy at 22851 Ventura Blvd. and Green Magic at 23002 Ventura Blvd.
The LAPD scheduled a press conference for …
… 1:30 p.m. today at the Topanga Area Community Police Station, 21501 Schoenborn St. The department states:
Items recovered and on display will include marijuana, hashish, narcotics paraphernalia, money and other evidence of the illegal sales of marijuana.
The search warrant raids were carried out by Topanga Divison narcotics officers, according to the LAPD.
The two pot shops, we were told, are “sister stores.” At least one person was seen being taken into custody, and an owner was still apparently being sought, our source said.
The raids come only days from an expected vote by the L.A. City Council that could wipe out all of the city's dispensaries.
Cannabis shop owners met last night at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel downtown, we were told, and some believed that three dozen or so additional outlets were being targeted by cops.
While sharing marijuana with the medically needy in California is legal, police have argued that selling it for profit is not.
The LAPD has been on a tear in the Valley, with the department boasting that it had wiped out all cannabis stores in its Devonshire Division.
[Update at 3:42 p.m.]: The LAPD issued a statement this afternoon.
If this isn't a middle finger to the pro-marijuana contingent, we don't know what is: The police put the time of yesterday's searches at an exact 4:20 p.m. If you'll recall, officers from the same division raided at least one dispensary in the area on 4/20 — April 20. Yep.
Arrestees from yesterday's raid were named as 25-year-old Mia Shomer, 37-year-old Fahar Kinhi, and 36-year-old Alexander Blinderman. All were booked on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale and held in lieu of $20,000 bail each.
Two others were sought as part of the investigation, the LAPD said.
A house was also hit as part of the search-warrant based operation. It was in the 5700 block of Wilhelmina Ave., cops said. All three locations are owned by the same family, according to the department.
Here's what officers say they found:
Investigators recovered approximately $40,000 in cash from a hidden floor safe at the residence. At the two dispensaries, investigators recovered approximately $2,000 in cash and approximately 30 pounds of marijuana, with an estimated street value of $90,000. Also recovered from the dispensary in the 23000 block of Ventura Boulevard was over 100 individual vials of hashish packaged for sale and over 225 marijuana plants.
Four large commercial safes were located at the dispensaries. Investigators from the LAPD's Commercial Crimes Division Safe Detail opened the safes and found large quantities of marijuana and cash.
If you have any more info on these shops, cops want you to drop a dime: 818-756-4850.
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