Police arrest a crime group accused of making illegal edible cannabis products packaged as name-brand sweets

Police in Canada said they have arrested six people and busted an organized crime group believed to have produced tens of thousands of counterfeit cannabis bars and edibles that resemble popular branded products.

The arrest began early this month when federal police investigators from the Pacific Region Royal Canadian Mounted Police executed search warrants on Oct. 3 at two pharmacies and five separate homes on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, according to a statement from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police . Police Tuesday.

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“These arrest warrants were linked to an organized crime group allegedly involved in the production and distribution of illegal drugs and contraband tobacco in Port Alberni and Nanaimo,” authorities said. “The pharmacies in question were Green Coast Dispensary in Port Alberni and Coastal Storm Dispensary in Lantzville.”

Search warrants were also executed at a suspected warehouse in Port Alberni, as well as at a storage and manufacturing facility adjacent to the Coastal Storm Dispensary, including two modular trailers where edible cannabis products were produced, stored and distributed, authorities said.

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The list of seized items includes more than 120,000 edible cannabis products with packaging resembling popular brand chocolate bars, chips, nacho chips, honey and other sweets, including more than 3 kilos of psilocybin mushrooms, 1,740 psilocybin capsules, more than 400 psilocybin mushrooms. chocolate, candies and a variety of other psilocybin products, 2.2 pounds of pressed cannabis resin, over 500 pounds of cannabis flower, over 19 pounds of shatter, over 5,000 cannabis vape cartridges, counterfeit cannabis honey, five vehicles, two ATMs containing cash, an estimated 164 cases of smuggled tobacco, amounting to 82,000 packs of cigarettes, more than $400,000 in cash and a shotgun, police said.

“Although the cannabis smuggled candy bars and chips appeared to be professionally manufactured, packaged and quality controlled products, it was discovered that they had been produced in highly unsanitary and heavily contaminated modular trailers,” RCMP authorities said. “A preliminary assessment of the edibles also indicates that they have been treated with unknown amounts of THC and are likely cross-contaminated with other drugs and substances present in the trailers where they were produced and packaged.”

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Of equal concern, police said, was the fact that the packaging claimed the counterfeit snacks had medicinal properties and dangerously high potency levels, with many of the candy package labels claiming to be “100 times more potent than regulated cannabis products.”

“Given the highly contaminated and unsanitary conditions at the illicit drug manufacturing facility where these edible cannabis products were produced, it is possible that consumption of these products could result in serious health risks,” RCMP said. “We urge the public to exercise extreme caution if they already own or encounter such products in the future, especially with Halloween just around the corner.”

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This investigation is ongoing and numerous drug offense charges are pending.

Police arrest a crime group accused of making illegal edible cannabis products packaged as name-brand sweets originally appeared on abcnews.go.com