A raid on a cigarette shop in Oakland’s Seminary neighborhood turned up pounds of marijuana, cases of illegal menthols, two loaded guns, and what police call “suspected crystal methamphetamine.”
Oakland, like San Francisco and now the whole state of California, has a menthol cigarette ban. So it is not legal to sell menthols at Bay Area smoke shops. One of them on International Boulevard in Oakland’s Seminary neighborhood was recently caught with several cases of Newport menthols, but that’s probably the least of their worries, as KRON4 reports the shop was also busted in possession of pounds of marijuana, loaded guns, and suspected crystal meth.
The raid was apparently conducted way back on February 22, but the Oakland Police Department is just announcing it now. The raid, or “inspection” as the OPD is calling it, also involved the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
“During the inspection, officers seized a large amount of illegally possessed cannabis and related products, suspected crystal methamphetamine, flavored prohibited tobacco products, and a large quantity of non-taxed cigarettes,” OPD said in a Monday Facebook post. “The officers also recovered two loaded firearms from the store.”
That post also twice makes mention of tobacco sales to minors, so one wonders if that offense was what led to the “inspection.” The OPD says no arrests were made, but referred the case to both the Alameda County District Attorney and the Oakland City Attorney.
Neither the OPD announcement nor the KRON4 report makes mention of the name of the smoke shop. But according to KRON4, the described 5900 block of International Boulevard has “two smoke shops: Pop’s Gifts & Smoke Shop and Bob’s Smoke Shop.” As seen above, they happen to be right next to each other.
And one of the two has prominent signs on the windows promoting “Delta-8 THC” and “CBD,” so feel free to draw your own conclusions.
The Oakland Police Department says that if you suspect a business of selling illegal tobacco, or tobacco to minors, to contact the OPD Alcohol Beverage and Tobacco (ABAT) Unit at (510) 777-8677.
Related: Oakland Man Arrested in Alleged $137,000 Stolen Cigarette Fencing Operation [SFist]
Image: Google Street View
