Ottawa police raid 3 illegal marijuana dispensaries

Ottawa police raided three marijuana dispensaries last week, leading to charges against five staff.

The raids happened between Monday and Thursday at dispensaries on Preston, Bank and Rideau streets.

At a shop on the 100 block of Preston Street, near Anderson Street, a 32-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman were arrested, police said in a media release issued Tuesday. They're facing joint charges of possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, and possession of the proceeds of crime over $5,000.

At the shop on the 1500 block of Bank Street, near Cecil Avenue, a 22-year-old man was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, and possession of the proceeds of crime under $5,000.

At the shop on the 500 block of Rideau Street, near Cobourg Street, a 22-year-old man and a 27-year-old man were arrested. They're facing joint charges of possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, and possession of the proceeds of crime over $5,000.

Police seized a number of other items during the raids, including:

• Cannabis pens, used to smoke the drug.
• Shatter, a form of concentrated cannabis.
• Cannabis resin.
• THC capsules, edibles, vape pens, syringes and bottled syrup.
• Pre-rolled joints.
• Cannabidiol (CBD) distillate powder.
• Hashish.
• Marijuana drizzled with CDB distillate powder and rolled in hash.
• Marijuana.
• Cellphones.
• Cash, in Canadian and U.S. dollars.
• Scales.
• Rolling papers, paraphernalia and packaging.
• iPads and cash register technology.

Police have not released the names of the accused persons.

In an unrelated investigation, Ottawa police also conducted a raid on Richardson Avenue, where they arrested a 48-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman, both from Ottawa. The charges against them include:

• Possession of heroin for the purpose of trafficking.
• Possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
• Possession of codeine for the purpose of trafficking.
• Possession of oxycodone for the purpose of trafficking.
• Possession of suboxone for the purpose of trafficking.
• Heroin possession.
• Marijuana possession.
• Possession of the proceeds of crime under $5,000.
• Breaching release conditions.