DEA, LAPD raid marijuana dispensaries, Beverly Hills homes
Drug enforcement agents raided and shut down several marijuana dispensaries Tuesday, the first move in what authorities say is a case they are building against a Los Angeles man.
About 11 a.m., agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration with the help of Los Angeles police raided the Black Rose dispensary in Fairfax, Downtown Medical Caregivers off Main Street, Washington and Western Medical Group in Harvard Heights, Herbman in Exposition Park and two homes in Beverly Hills.
[For the record, 8:53 p.m. PDT, Tuesday, March 11, 2014: A previous version of this post incorrectly referred to the DEA as the Drug Enforcement Agency.]
Authorities seized “a bunch of marijuana, cash” and a handgun, said DEA spokeswoman Sarah Pullen.
The same man owns all four dispensaries, Pullen said. No arrests were made and the investigation is ongoing, she said. The Los Angeles city attorney’s office is also helping in the investigation.
The raid comes a day after City Atty. Mike Feuer announced the city is doing its own enforcement against L.A.’s pot shops. In a news conference Monday, Feuer said the city has closed 100 pot shops since it began enforcing new restrictions on the businesses.
The city has hired two new attorneys to exclusively tackle prosecutions under Proposition D, the measure passed by voters last spring, Feuer said. Staffers are also focusing more attention on real estate professionals and landlords renting space to marijuana dispensaries, providing them with a new brochure that warns of steep fines and jail time for breaking the rules.
“We have a long way to go, but we have a great start,” said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, who joined Feuer at a news conference. Beck said that new training on the law would help 165 senior lead officers in charge of neighborhood policing detect illegal shops.
Twitter: @josephserna
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