Cannabis burglaries are increasing in Santa Cruz County: Law enforcement must pay more attention to these crimes

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I am a licensed cannabis business owner here in Santa Cruz. I’m writing to inform our community about an active group of criminals who have perpetrated at least 11 armed burglaries of licensed cannabis facilities in the county of Santa Cruz within the past year. Five of those break-ins were in the city of Santa Cruz — eight if you count multiple break-ins at the same place. At least three were in Watsonville. Those are just the ones I know about.

I am not aware of a single arrest in any of these cases.

The most recent theft occurred early in the morning of Nov. 13. The owner of a licensed facility received notice that an alarm had been triggered at his property. He called the Santa Cruz police and then went to his facility to try to prevent the theft. He decided to intervene and ended up ramming into the suspects’ (stolen) vehicle and exchanging gunfire with the fleeing criminals.

Luckily, no one was injured.

This was a dangerous and reckless decision, but it is important to understand the context in which it was made. I am in no way condoning this person’s actions, but I understand why he did it. To someone outside the industry, it would make more sense to wait for police to arrive and rely on insurance claims to get reimbursed for damages.

But the situation is far more complex for cannabis businesses.

Theft is not new to the cannabis industry, which has approximately 43 licensed cannabis businesses in the county of Santa Cruz. I am aware of eight other facilities which recently experienced burglaries, most of which I and other cannabis owners believed were armed burglaries. It’s hard to prove, but that is our sense. On Nov. 13, for instance, there was an exchange of gunfire.

My business has also been targeted. Cannabis enjoys a thriving black market, and criminals know the high value of the products and that there is often a lot of cash on hand. That makes these businesses especially vulnerable to burglaries. As an owner, it’s frightening.

The perpetrators have caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage at these businesses. Burglars have used crowbars and other tools to break into these heavily secured facilities. Business owners have had to replace windows, doors, locks and other property damaged by these forced entries.

Burglars have stolen cash and hundreds of thousands of dollars (hundreds of pounds) of licensed tracked and traced cannabis. Traced cannabis means the state monitors the cannabis using “tags” that follow the flow from seed to sale. This ensures all cannabis grown by a licensee is sold legally and not transferred to the black market. It also ensures the state gets paid taxes on any cannabis produced and sold by licensed businesses.

Each time a burglary occurs, the reaction from law enforcement is the same. The police come and file a report and any damage and loss is the business owner’s burden to carry.

Insurance for cannabis is extremely difficult to obtain and costs are so high that many businesses cannot afford it. When our company got a quote for property insurance that would cover losses from theft, the premium was so high we decided not to get it and spend money on further fortifying our business to prevent break-ins. Even with insurance, there is no guarantee that the damages from theft will be covered, and the costs more often than not fall back on the business owner.

As many people know, the licensed cannabis industry in California is failing. Between the high cost of licensing through the state, exceptionally high taxes at both the state and local levels, a significant black market and an uncontrolled amount of cannabis businesses being issued licenses, numerous license-holders have already shut down or are on the brink of shutting down.

As the owner of a licensed and legitimate business, it is frustrating to encounter so many additional hurdles to operate when compared to other businesses in Santa Cruz. Cannabis business owners pay premiums on insurance, rent, banking and just about anything else just to be in compliance with the law and operate their businesses.

We aren’t looking for special treatment. Legal cannabis is a relatively new industry and it is appropriate to have a certain level of oversight and regulation. But we do want the community and law enforcement to take us seriously when our businesses are being targeted by groups of armed and dangerous criminals who appear to be acting with impunity.

Of the eight burglaries that occurred last year, three of those facilities were targeted multiple times. The business targeted Nov.13 had already had a March break-in. This business owner was trying to protect his property because in the past, no one else has.

This is his livelihood and any loss would fall to him alone. I want to make it clear that I’m not blaming the police. Both times this facility was burglarized, the police showed up in time to pursue the suspects in a high-speed chase. Both times, they followed the suspects to Highway 17 and then backed off chasing them to not put the public in further danger.

But in letting them go and not apprehending these criminals, they are making our community more dangerous.

Every time these perpetrators successfully steal from another cannabis business, it seems to me they get bolder. They are armed and dangerous and it is only a matter of time before they do it again and more violence follows.

I’ve heard from those inside the cannabis industry, and they have reason to believe that all the suspects of these armed thefts have been identified and are known to law enforcement. They have been told that police are still investigating, which is why they remain at large. However, building a case is not an excuse to delay prosecution.

We need to prioritize the prevention of crime perpetrated upon these local tax-paying businesses.

Cannabis business owners are put into a predicament to safeguard their business and livelihood when they feel like the sheriff and police aren’t going to prevent this from happening again. I worry it’s only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt or killed.

What should the police do?

I personally reached out to get answers and ask questions about a break-in at my business and never got a call back or response. I can’t speak for all the cannabis business owners in our community, but more communication and planning directly with the police and the cannabis businesses would go a long way in making us feel safe and that our businesses are a high priority.

If it is the same group of thieves that has been terrorizing our community and have had at least 10 successful break-ins, I find it hard to believe that there isn’t enough evidence and infractions to charge these individuals with a crime(s).

Cannabis is a legitimate and legal industry; there is no excuse to allow it to be marginalized. Law enforcement should protect our businesses as they would any other. We pay taxes and licensing fees, and provide a desirable service to our community.

I’m hoping to get this story out to the public and get answers why the police have not done more to prevent this crew of vandals from continuing to terrorize our community here in Santa Cruz city and county.

The author is a licensed Santa Cruz County cannabis business owner. Lookout respected his request for anonymity because he fears for his safety and that of his business.