Cash, gun and pot seized in L.A. marijuana dispensary raids

Marijuana, cash and a handgun were seized in a DEA raid of several medical marijuana dispensaries in what authorities say is a case they are building against a Los Angeles man.

Agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration and Los Angeles police officers about 11 a.m. Tuesday 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.

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 was ongoing, she said. The Los Angeles city attorney’s office is also helping in the investigation.

The raid came 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 dispensaries 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 that rent to dispensaries, providing them with a new brochure that warns of steep fines and jail time for breaking the law.

Under the proposition, pot shops and their landlords can be prosecuted if the shops don’t meet several requirements, including being registered under past city ordinances and operating an adequate distance from public parks, schools, child care centers and other facilities.

“We have a long way to go, but we have a great start,” said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck at the news conference.

Beck said that new training on the law would help 165 senior lead officers in charge of neighborhood policing detect illegal shops.