South Fulton smoke shop raided by cops; owners say seized products were completely legal
Smoke shop wrongly raided, owners say
The owners of smoke shop in South Fulton say cops raided their storefront even though what they were doing was completely legal. Police accuse them of trafficking weed from the location on Campbellton Road. But their attorneys accuse the police of not knowing the law as they demand the store be allowed to reopen.
SOUTH FULTON, Ga. - A smoke shop in South Fulton says cops raided their storefront even though what they were doing was completely legal.
South Fulton police accuse Air Freshener Depot II of peddling weed from the location on Campbellton Road, but the store's lawyer says the products didn't break any laws.
"We have a brand-new legal landscape where things that look like marijuana and smell like marijuana are not necessarily marijuana," said Tom Church, the store's attorney.
Manager Shaizen Khoja said he was in disbelief when a SWAT team swarmed the store in early May.
It's been closed ever since.
"They said, we got a search warrant, just keep your mouth shut and just do whatever we say," Khoja said. "They asked me, 'Do you know the products are not legal?
I’m like, I’m sure the products were legal because we purchased from the wholesaler."
Khoja says the flower he was selling was hemp, under the legal limit of Delta-9 THC.
That’s the illegal psychoactive component that gets you high.
"We had all of the lab results for the product," Khoja said. "We had kept a binder up in the front."
South Fulton Police Chief Keith Meadows told FOX 5 he stands by his detectives' work.
He says they sent the evidence to another lab, which found a few products that did slightly exceed the legal THC limit.
Khoja and his co-workers also face potential felony drug trafficking allegations.
"We’re fighting over a handful of tests that show slightly different numbers," Church said.
He argues the city pulled the store’s business license without due process.
Khoja and his legal team met with South Fulton’s city manager and attorneys on Thursday afternoon to plead their case.
They’ve also filed a civil lawsuit, asking for a temporary restraining order against Chief Meadows and his department.
"What are we fighting over? Is it worth keeping business closed?" Church asked.
The city manager is expected to decide whether this business can stay open within the next 10 days.