FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Thousands of dollars worth of illegal cannabis and illegal cannabis products were seized on Thursday at a private golf club in Fresno.
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The City Attorney’s Office says the city’s code enforcement officers and several state agencies served a search warrant at the AOA Private Membership golf club located near the Fresno airport on Helm Avenue.
From the outside, the building appears to be like any other warehouse in that area. On the gate leading into the club, the only sign marking the business that’s visible from the street doesn’t name the business. Instead, it is bright red and reads “PRIVATE! MEMBERS ONLY.”
But inside, rather than just people wanting to practice their golf swing with golf simulators or grab a drink at the bar, Fresno city attorney Andrew Janz says the club was selling illegal and unregulated cannabis and cannabis products.
“These drugs are not regulated by any state agency so we have a concern that they may be laced with fentanyl or other dangerous substances. Also, the point of going after these illegal grow operations, illegal sales, are to really help support the legal cannabis industry which is regulated and safe,” Janz said.
Pictures from the seize provided by the City Attorney’s office show products that look like snacks and candy. Pictures also show dozens of jars filled with cannabis.
Janz says this isn’t the only bust recently. On Jan. 10, Janz’s office announced a raid of the Gro More Garden Supply. In that raid, local law enforcement and state agencies were able to seize over 800 unlicensed marijuana plants and hundreds of pounds of illegal cannabis.
Fresno warehouse seized for over $800K in illegal cannabis, officials say
“There are folks that go through this very lengthy process to set up legal businesses that sell cannabis so we really want to go out there and help them out, and in turn that also helps out the Fresno taxpayer and the tax base,” Janz said, adding why it’s so important for his office to continue going after illegal businesses.
Thursday, people were still seen going in and out of the building, with one employee telling us they were not closed. We did see one person arrive with a golf bag, and various others arrived without. Still, our news team tried speaking with employees at the business, but ultimately, they did not want to make a statement.
A woman who works at a different warehouse nearby in the same business park says she was shocked and didn’t know about the operation, despite working in the area for years. Others who owned the business directly next to the AOA Private Membership Golf Club declined to provide a comment.
Janz says they can’t say who tipped them off, but said it looked like the operation had been there for a while.
“We’re going to continue to go after these operations, so we’re hoping that the word gets out there that if you continue to illegally operate in our city, we’re gonna come after you,” he added.
Janz says at this point, no arrests have been made and the investigation is still ongoing.
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