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Police raided two Mountain View smoke shops on Wednesday morning as part of an investigation into alleged sales of products containing cannabis, magic mushrooms and flavored tobacco to underage youth, according to a Mountain View Police Department news release on Thursday, June 13.
Officers seized thousands of products containing cannabis and flavored tobacco, along with hundreds containing psilocybin, commonly known as magic mushrooms, according to police.
Several months ago, police officials received complaints that two different smoke shops – B&Y Smoke Shop at 361 Castro Street and Great Vape Smoke Shop at 359 W. El Camino Real – were selling flavored tobacco products and that youth were purchasing these products, according to the statement.
The sale of most flavored tobacco products is prohibited in California.
Mountain View police conducted “controlled purchases” at both locations and acquired products containing psilocybin and products containing THC or cannabis. The products were sold to an underage customer working with law enforcement, police said.
In California, it is illegal to sell recreational cannabis or products containing cannabis to those under 21 years old. The sale of psilocybin and products containing psilocybin is prohibited for all ages.
After the monthslong investigation, police requested search warrants for the two smoke shops. A Santa Clara County judge approved the warrants, authorizing law enforcement officials to search both of the businesses. The search warrants were served around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, June 12, police said.
At B&Y Smoke Shop, law enforcement officials seized about 138 products containing psilocybin and about 12,000 products containing cannabis and flavored tobacco. An employee was briefly detained and issued a citation for possession of untaxed tobacco products, police said.
During the search, police said that it appeared that there had been a recent fire in the building, and the Mountain View Fire Department was called in to investigate. Fire officials documented several possible violations and sent a report to the city’s building division, according to the statement.
The owner of B&Y Smoke Shop was not available for comment.
At Great Vape Smoke Shop, law enforcement officials seized about 338 products containing psilocybin and about 1,200 products containing cannabis and flavored tobacco, police said.
The owner of Great Vape Smoke Shop was not available for comment, but an employee said that police had seized a lot of their products.
The Mountain View Police Department is still sorting through the evidence taken during the search and potential criminal charges will be sent to Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office for review, according to the statement.
“This investigation demonstrates that the MVPD and the City of Mountain View will not tolerate businesses preying on our youth by selling cannabis, vaping products, or flavored tobacco products,” Mountain View Police Chief Mike Canfield said in the news release.
“Our youth deserve better, and we will continue working with our partners to vigorously enforce these laws,” he added.
The Mountain View Police Department’s Crime Suppression Unit worked with the Santa Clara County Specialized Enforcement Team and the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration during the investigation.