California authorities seized more than 2.2 million pieces of fraudulent or forged cannabis packaging materials that they say were likely being used to circumvent the state’s legal cannabis requirements.
The packaging materials, according to California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Office, were marked with a forged state seal used to indicate that a cannabis product is licensed and legal for sale in California.
Officials said much of the packaging was branded as candy and other sweets that could target children, including Sweet Tarts and Twinkies.
Nick Maduros, director of the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, said illegal packaging of cannabis products provides a “thin yet frightening veil of legitimacy for illicit operators,” and allows illegal cultivators to avoid state regulations and taxes.
The law enforcement operation took place in L.A.’s Toy District and targeted 11 stores where businesses were manufacturing and selling bulk packaging used in the illegal cannabis market.
Authorities did not release an exact date for the raid, but they described it as “recent.”
The operation was conducted by the state’s Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce with members of local and statewide law enforcement partners.
Officials said task force members seized 2,279,900 “contraband packages,” as well as 31 banker-sized boxes and garbage bags filled with illegal cannabis and 32 boxes and bags of illegal cigarettes and other tobacco products.
“The operation in the Toy District represents an important new direction by the Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce to disrupt unlicensed cannabis sales,” said Department of Cannabis Control Director Nicole Elliott. “Illegal packaging is dangerous to consumers, especially when it is ripping-off well-known brands that are attractive to children, and needs to be removed from the marketplace.”
Newsom says the task force protects the state’s legal cannabis industry and its consumers and cuts off revenue streams to criminal organizations that skirt local laws, endanger the ecosystem with unregulated cultivation practices, and often exploit workers and contribute to human trafficking by violating labor laws.
Newsom’s Office said the task force had seized more than $120 million in illegal cannabis products this year and more than $465 million since its inception in 2022.
For additional information about California’s legal cannabis market, including state laws and licensees, click here.