{"id":8577,"date":"2018-12-12T00:23:12","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T00:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=3297631"},"modified":"2018-12-12T00:23:12","modified_gmt":"2018-12-12T00:23:12","slug":"six-alleged-illegal-retail-pot-shops-busted-in-colorado-springs-1-375m-seized-police-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/six-alleged-illegal-retail-pot-shops-busted-in-colorado-springs-1-375m-seized-police-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Six alleged illegal retail pot shops busted in Colorado Springs; $1.375M seized, police say"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/six-alleged-illegal-retail-pot-shops-busted-in-colorado-springs-1-375m-seized-police-say\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<div><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/six-alleged-illegal-retail-pot-shops-busted-in-colorado-springs-1-375m-seized-police-say.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Business was booming at several Colorado Springs marijuana shops, despite local ordinances that prohibit the retail sale of marijuana and pot products.<\/p>\n<p>Following a lengthy investigation, multiple executed search warrants, an arrest and additional arrest warrants issued, police on Tuesday said cash seized from the alleged illegal businesses came out to about $1.375 million, with the cash value eclipsing $2 million when seized property is considered.<\/p>\n<p>Detectives from the Colorado Springs Metro Vice, Narcotics, and Intelligence Division\u2019s marijuana regulatory team earlier this year began investigating several \u201cillegally operating\u201d retail marijuana stores in Colorado Springs and El Paso County. Local municipal and county ordinances prohibit retail marijuana sales.<\/p>\n<p>On Nov. 30, search warrants were executed at the following locations: Toke-a-Lot and Vapors Choice, 507 Security Blvd.; Toke-a-Lil, 2549 Delta Drive; Primo\u2019s Smoke, 1748 Shasta Drive; Best Bud and Peak Ascension, 1617 Lashelle Way; Blazed &amp; Confused, 603 W. Colorado Ave.;\u00a0and Church of the Most High, 2402 East Boulder St.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators seized more than 100 pounds of refined marijuana product, marijuana-infused edibles and marijuana concentrate.\u00a0As part of the ongoing case, a search warrant was served on a home in unincorporated El Paso County.<\/p>\n<p>Jon Vincent Martinez, 37, identified by police as a \u201cmain suspect,\u201d was arrested at the home. Three other arrest warrants have been issued, although that number could go higher, said Lt. Eugene Black, a department spokesman.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\" \/>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s still active,\u201d Black said. \u201cPotentially, additional warrants could be issued.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During the search of the residence, detectives found numerous large safes in the garage that contained more than 60 handguns and rifles. Six of the weapons were determined to be stolen from prior crime scenes, police said. Detectives also found illegal drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine and ecstasy. Also seized in the raids were five vehicles, a motorcycle and numerous pieces of high-end jewelry, including Rolex watches.<\/p>\n<p>After the initial Nov. 30 searches and seizures, additional search warrants were issued for various other locations, ultimately leading to the discovery of more than $1 million in unreported cash, police said.<\/p>\n<p>Martinez is being held on suspicion of felony distribution of illegal drugs. The investigation is ongoing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Business was booming at several Colorado Springs marijuana shops, despite local ordinances that prohibit the retail sales of marijuana and pot products. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6811,7211,6812,6813,77,6814,6815,5667,6858,9,5019,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[6816,7213,6817,6818,2655,6819,6820,5673,6860,5022],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8577"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8577\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}