LAKE COUNTY >> Narcotics Task Force Detectives executed a series of raids on smoke shops during a county-wide raid on Friday, revealing far more than cigarettes and marijuana-related pieces.
According to a report by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, the raid targeted six local certified smoke shops: two Cheaper Cigarettes locations on Lakeshore Drive along with one on Olympic Drive in Clearlake; Ed and Linda’s on Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake; Smoke on the Water in Lucerne and Mystic Barrel in Nice.
Two of these locations allegedly sold methamphetamine pipes to undercover detectives just before the raids.
By the end of the raids, the Task Force collected a variety of illegal items, including 803 methamphetamine pipes, two 12-gauge shotguns, one revolver, one pistol, and 3,812 canisters of nitrous oxide gas.
Methpipes consist of a glass tube that shapes into a bowl at the end, which allows users to heat methamphetamine up without exposing it to an open flame and burning it. This differentiates them from most pipes, legal or otherwise.
According to the 381b PC law, distributing nitrous oxide is illegal in the state of California. Moreover, state and federal law prohibits the recreational use of nitrous oxide unless otherwise administered for medical use by a professional, such as a doctor or dentist.
Neither owners nor employees could explain the presence of the four firearms to authorities, These were reportedly detectives seized at one of the locations.
Violation of drug and paraphernalia distribution laws could mean revocation of a business license.
“The methamphetamine epidemic that plagues our community contributes to countless quality of life issues, and brings additional crime to our neighborhoods,” Sheriff Brian Martin said in a prepared statement. “We will take every action available to ensure that commercial
dealers of paraphernalia are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
