Photo: stuff from the smoke shop
March 30, 2022 – Ventura County, Ca.
The legalization of licensed recreational cannabis cultivation, distribution, and sales in California has undoubtedly put a serious dent in the bottom line revenues of business enterprises traditionally engaged in the sales of assorted tobacco products and accessories.
While there may still be some “baby boomer” or Gen X folks patronizing the local cigar store, younger demographic groups are flocking to their local pot shop in far greater numbers.That may have been the motivating factor that inspired the owner of Thousand Oaks’ Baked Boulevard Smoke Shop and Ventura’s two Wild Tobacco Smoke Shops to move beyond merely selling cigarettes and cigars to both adults and underage buyers in favor of offering all comers a selection of controlled substances.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department’s Narcotics Street Team spokesman Sgt. Odilon Malagon, law enforcement “received information” indicating that the owner of the three smoke shops, 49-year-old Ventura resident Mtanious Toumeh, was actively retailing “marijuana, other illegal drugs, and tobacco products to underage customers.” With that information in hand, the VCSD Pharmaceutical Crimes Unit joined forces with the Narcotics Street Team and began to carry out “controlled operations” at all three smoke shops in which they “bought illegal drugs from the businesses.”
Pursuant to these investigations, search warrants were obtained for all three locations, as well as for the residences of Toumeh and his suspected accomplices, 22-year-old Ventura resident George Temmie, 42-year-old Oxnard resident Kamil Achkar, and Thousand Oaks residents Samuel Tardif, 27, and 26-year-old Taylor Vanni. Those warrants were simultaneously executed
at sunrise on March 25 th , leading to the discovery and seizure of “20 pounds of marijuana, one pound of psilocybin mushrooms, two ounces of MDMA, THC vapes, one ounce of Ketamine, THC edibles, and one pound of cannabis wax.
All five suspects—Temmi, Toumeh, Achkar, Tardif, and Vanni—were taken into custody and transported to Ventura County Jail, where they were booked on multiple narcotics and conspiracy charges.
Photo: VCSD Narcotics Street Team
