Unlicensed London cannabis store ordered to close after raid by police
CBC
An unlicensed, Indigenous-owned cannabis dispensary in London has been closed by provincial police for a second time following a raid at the business late last month that saw a 36-year-old man arrested.
It's the second time in two months that Spirit River Cannabis, located in trailers at 72 Wellington St., has been raided by the Provincial Joint Forces Cannabis Enforcement Team (PJFCET) and ordered to close under the Cannabis Control Act.
In a statement on Wednesday, police said they carried out a search warrant at an unlicensed storefront on Oct. 24, 2024, and allegedly seized $41,000 in "illegal cannabis and cannabis products" along with $6,700 in contraband tobacco and $2,460 in cash.
A London man, 36, was charged with four Cannabis Act and Criminal Code charges and is due in court on Nov. 29, police said. His relation to the store was not provided.
The OPP-led PJFCET is responsible for cannabis enforcement and includes officers from several police departments, including London police, who referred all questions to the OPP.
Spirit River Cannabis, which opened in December 2022, operates out of trailers in an otherwise empty lot next to an office building near the Thames River. No one was there when a CBC Reporter visited early Wednesday afternoon. In their statement, police said anyone wishing to enter the trailers requires permission from the Superior Court of Justice first or face arrest and break and enter charges.
The same messaging could be seen in the window of Spirit River's first trailer, which was raided by PJFCET and Middlesex OPP on Aug. 20. According to the London Free Press, a second trailer opened next to it in October and was raided days later.
Spirit River's Richmond Row location was also searched, along with its store on Chippewas of the Thames First Nation. The Richmond Street store has not reopened.
At the time, police alleged they seized more than $350,000 in illegal cannabis and cannabis products in the investigation and laid charges against five people.
Among them was Maurice French, 51, Spirit River's owner, who was handed two charges under the Cannabis Act and one under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Four others, including three from London and one from Oneida Nation of the Thames, were also charged.
French is scheduled to appear in court on Friday and did not reply to a Facebook message seeking comment. He is currently the subject of a bench warrant after he failed to appear for his initial court date in mid-October, according to court documents.
A voicemail left with the store's listed phone number and a message sent through its website were not returned by the time of publication.
French had previously told CBC News that, while operating the store, he was asserting his rights as an entrepreneur and a Chippewa man.
"We're exercising our constitutional rights and our treaty rights to fend off economic genocide," French said in an interview when the Wellington Road dispensary opened.
Darlene Naugle had difficulties getting around the small community of Port Bickerton on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore when she moved to area from Alberta three years ago to care for her sick daughter.
Skates and hockey sticks on backyard rinks are the definitive sound of winter for many Canadians.
Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Wally Daudrich doesn't seem to mind that some Tories might think his claim Manitoba schools are promoting acts of bestiality and incest is impossible to believe.
Artificial intelligence has become increasingly present in people's lives, ranging from the ability to create a generative image in a messages with simple prompts, to using data to reduce workplace injuries.
While Trump's tariffs, housing and health care have received plenty of attention during the Ontario election campaign, educators say voters should pay more attention to where the major parties stand on the province's public school system.
As the Canadian Armed Forces continue to try and dig out of a deep recruitment hole, they're starting to give new recruits with medical conditions a shot at joining the military rather than automatically turning them away.
Israel says the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners is delayed "until the release of the next hostages is assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies" at handovers of Israeli captives in Gaza.
Crystal Ellingsen and Jennifer Brady thought their battle with the government of Nova Scotia ended last year, but now they're raising their voices once again to continue the fight.
Ryan Evans of Oromocto, N.B., says he knows how lucky he is.
It has been just over 104 years since Jessie Kirk was inaugurated as the first woman on Winnipeg's City Council — but to this day, only 32 other women have been elected to represent a ward in the city's history.
An apartment building in central Edmonton that shut down late last year after a security guard was killed on-site may be allowed to reopen to tenants.
Experts and officials are saying Friday's 4.7 magnitude earthquake, felt across southwest B.C., is a wake-up call that British Columbians need to be prepared for an emergency situation.