Police seize drugs, cash, and make arrest in dispensary raid

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A marijuana expo at the 5 & Dime Dispensary was raided by Detroit Police Friday night on the city's westside.

An 8th annual THC Expo that was advertised on Facebook as even being family friendly. People would check in at the Rooster tail for the first part of the expo then take a bus over to the second expo location at the dispensary.

Many people were inside when the place was raided. Drugs, guns, and cash were confiscated and three people arrested.  

We spoke with a vendor who was there when the place was raided.

“Some kids come running through yelling it’s a raid, within two seconds over 25 armed officers dressed like swat helmets, bullet proof vest and they had flashlights and rifles they had mask on their face you could only see their eyes and they screamed at everyone to get down on the ground,” THC expo vendor Andy Bongers said. 

Lt. John Parnell says the expo itself was not the issue.

“There's no issue with the expo but what was problematic was the identification of medicating facilities,” Parnell said. 

Police say the 8th Annual THC Expo was in violation of Michigan State Law. Michigan is a medical marijuana state but it’s not a recreational marijuana state like Colorado.

“We were able confiscate 300-500 pounds of marijuana along with a significant amount of cash along with edibles, liquids, which are clearly beyond the medical marijuana guidelines,” Parnell said.

But the vendor we spoke with said the organizer assured him and other vendors that the expo met all the state guidelines. 

“We lost about $475 in cash and most of that was money we took out our own pockets to build this. We didn't hardly sell anything when we got there,” Bongers said.

Fox 2 was able to talk to the organizer on the phone, he said he did nothing wrong, it was not in violation of Michigan State law.

While the dispensary was shut down after the raid, the Rooster tail part of the expo was still going on.