Five charged in raids on Indigenous pot shops in London, Chippewas

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Five people face charges following a series of police raids on unsanctioned pot shops in London and the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.

The Ontario Provincial Police-led cannabis enforcement team launched an investigation in June into the illegal sale of cannabis at a dispensary on Chippewas territory and at two London stores, operating under the name Spirit River, that weren’t licensed by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, the province’s pot regulator, the OPP said.

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Police raided the London locations – one in a trailer at 72 Wellington St., the other a storefront at 685 Richmond St. – and the Chippewas store on Aug. 20, seizing $350,000 worth of cannabis products, $9,000 in contraband tobacco, $2,500 of magic mushrooms, $11,000 cash and an extraction press, police said.

Established in 2018 after Canada became the second country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana, the cannabis enforcement team is made up of officers from more than a dozen police forces including London.

“The OPP values a close working relationship with First Nation police services to enforce the laws pertaining to illegal cannabis and to address any concerns relating to investigations or enforcement activities,” London police Det.-Sgt. Josh Silcox, of the guns and gangs section, said in a statement.

“Partnerships and collaboration between police services and agencies are imperative to ensure public safety and successful outcomes when dealing with these types of investigations.”

Two London men, 44 and 41, a London woman, 27, a Chippewas man, 52, and an Oneida man, 41, face drug-related charges. All of the accused have been released from custody and are scheduled to appear in a London court in October.

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The accused include Maurice French, who identified himself as the owner of the Spirit River location on Wellington Street when it opened in December 2022. French argued at the time that he was exercising his treaty rights to open a “medicinal cannabis trading post” on traditional Chippewa Nation land, according to a letter sent to city hall and police officials.

In an interview after the crackdown, French said he was no longer connected to the London Spirit River locations but he operated a store on Chippewas that was raided.

“I wanted no part of what was going because we got away from what our original goal was . . . our plan for treaty rights and exercising our treaty right and we got away from that with money and greed,” French said of ending his involvement with the London Spirit River stores.

French said he opened the Chippewas pot shop, along with a gas station and variety store, on May 18. “My two employees got charged,” he said.

Nobody is allowed to re-enter the raided stores unless they get permission from the Superior Court of Justice, police said, noting anyone who violates the order will be charged with break-and-enter. Signs posted on the now-shuttered London stores by police issued the same warning.

Both of the London locations remain closed more than a month after the crackdown. A sign outside the Wellington Spirit River location says the business will reopen soon.

It’s unclear what prompted the police crackdown and why other Indigenous-run pot shops operating in London in defiance of the law weren’t targeted. At least two other unsanctioned dispensaries – one on Dundas Street, the other on Richmond Street – are still open.

dcarruthers@postmedia.com

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