Police shut down unlicensed London pot shop, again

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An Indigenous-run marijuana shop in London has been shuttered for a second time after reopening following a summertime crackdown by the Ontario Provincial Police.

In August, Spirit River, an unlicensed cannabis dispensary in a trailer at 72 Wellington St., and the Spirit River downtown storefront at 685 Richmond St. were closed down by the OPP.

On Oct. 24, officers raided the Wellington Street trailer again, police said on Wednesday. This time, officers seized $41,000 in illegal pot and products, $6,700 in contraband tobacco and $2,460 in Canadian currency, police said.

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The OPP-led cannabis enforcement unit is made up of officers from nearly a dozen Ontario forces, including London’s.

People with interest in the location, including the owner, who wish to enter the premises can apply to the Superior Court of Justice to get permission or risk being charged with breaking and entering, police said.

A 36-year-old London man is facing charges of possessing cannabis for the purpose of selling, possession of illicit cannabis and possession of proceeds of property obtained by crime under $5,000 and trafficking in contraband tobacco.

Spirit River’s cash-only pot shops were open 24 hours a day, violating rules set by the Alcohol Gaming Commission of Ontario, and sold cannabis products not inspected by Health Canada.

Illegal pot shops began popping up across Canada before recreational cannabis was legalized in October 2018, prompting police to crack down on the black-market businesses, arresting employees and seizing inventory.

The police effort to snuff out the illicit stores eventually succeeded as more legal retailers opened across Ontario and the price of legal cannabis products became more competitive with the black market.

But soon Indigenous-run dispensaries, common on Indigenous territories, began opening in Southwestern Ontario towns and cities, with operators claiming cannabis laws don’t apply to them.

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