Two charged as police raid illegal west-end pot shop

Two people face charges after police seized cannabis items with an estimated value of more $40,000 in the raid of an illegal storefront on Athlone Avenue Tuesday.

City police and the OPP’s provincial joint forces cannabis enforcement team executed the search warrant, the OPP said in a release Wednesday.

The OPP took the lead because the raid used the joint forces team’s resources, a spokeswoman said.

Officers seized what are believed to be processed cannabis, hash, shatter (a cannabis concentrate), oil, edibles, vape pens and cash and enforced an interim closure of the store under the provincial Cannabis Control Act

Douglas Baskin, 38, and Saba Salenn Amed Awadh Al Zahari, 21, both of Ottawa, are charged under the federal Cannabis Act with possession of cannabis bud, shatter, edibles and hashish for the purpose of selling. Both are also charged with possession of the proceeds of crime under $5,000 under the Criminal Code.

They are scheduled to appear in court April 19.

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