Costa Mesa police return product seized in cannabis raid, as officials rethink laws

After obtaining a court order for the return of nearly $1 million in product seized during a Sept. 7 raid on two Costa Mesa legal cannabis businesses, the owners of Se7enleaf finally received the goods during a delivery Thursday.

Costa Mesa police and city employees trucked more than 100 pounds of cannabis flower, boxes of oil cartridges and vaporizers along with documents, devices and security equipment held in police storage to Se7enleaf’s Cadillac Avenue facility.

The hand-off comes nearly a month after owners Michael Moussalli and Matteo Tabib reached a settlement agreement with the city, whose attorneys had been mounting an offense against what they believed was illegal commerce taking place at the site.

Se7enleaf co-founder Matteo Tabib meets with Costa Mesa city staff Thursday to receive between $600,000 to $700,000 worth of cannabis products and other items seized by Costa Mesa police during a Sept. 7 raid of his facility.

(Eric Licas)

Temporarily detained by police during the raid and present Thursday, Tabib said the delivery came after a week of wrangling, attorney emails and discussions with police.

“They didn’t like that they had to return the stuff,” he said. “They didn’t like that they were wrong, and they didn’t like that they were embarrassed and that nobody was charged. They gave no consideration that me and Michael and our employees’ lives are not in a good place right now.”

Co-founders of Se7enleaf, Tabib and Moussalli are collectively majority owners of the retail dispensary High Seas Cannabis boutique, located at 1921 Harbor Blvd., which opened to friends and family Wednesday ahead of an April 1 grand opening.

Se7enleaf Distribution Manager Jade Baltierras helps her coworkers Thursday, as they unload between $600,000 and $700,000 worth of cannabis products and other items seized by Costa Mesa Police.

(Eric Licas)

Store owners had been waiting for a cannabis business permit, a final step delayed as city prosecutors and police processed the aftermath of the raid and an earlier inspection that discovered High Seas-branded product at a local cannabis delivery that had been co-packaged by Se7enleaf.

Moussalli maintains the company was testing the marketplace ahead of the dispensary’s opening and not doing anything illegal. Since it opened in Costa Mesa after voters approved Measure X in 2016, Se7enleaf has engaged with the city’s chamber of commerce and even helped inform the 2020 retail cannabis ballot initiative Measure Q.

“In many ways we’re still treated as the stepchildren of businesses in the city,” said Moussalli, who says he has never engaged in black market cannabis operations. “We just want the same basic opportunities and rights as businesses that are regulated in the same ways as ours, like liquor stores.”

Se7enleaf co-founder Matteo Tabib poses for a photo next to a bulletin board displaying certificates and plaques from the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce and Costa Mesa Police Assn.

(Eric Licas)

Costa Mesa city leaders are undergoing a review of the city’s retail cannabis ordinance, considering amendments that would establish a buffer between dispensaries and residential properties and cut back on costly employee badge requirements.

During a public hearing Tuesday, Costa Mesa Police Chief Ron Lawrence told the City Council since January 2022, the department has logged a total of 48 calls for service from cannabis businesses, though a majority of reports pertained to security alarms and suspicious individuals in the vicinity.

Moussalli said Thursday while he appreciated the council’s reconsideration of laws that have proven to be onerous for operators, there is still a ways to go.

“I’m concerned they’re going to impose more regulations on us that they don’t understand the consequences of,” he said. “I just implore them to engage in more conversations with the industry, so we can avoid situations like the Se7enleaf/High Seas fiasco.”

Pouches of marijuana that had been seized by the Costa Mesa Police Department sit in a plastic tub while the staff of Se7enleaf take a moment to rest on Thursday.

(Eric Licas)