Pubdate: Fri, 20 Oct 2006
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2006, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Oliver Moore
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Note: MAP archives articles exactly as published, except that our 
editors may redact the names and addresses of accused persons who 
have not been convicted of a crime, if those named are not otherwise 
public figures or officials.

POT POLICE SNIFF OUT BLUNT CLUES

The Blunt Shop may have gone up in smoke after police raided the 
popular west end business and locked up its owners.

Investigators allege the tobacco and snack products at the store were 
a cover for the more lucrative business of peddling thousands of 
dollars worth of marijuana and cocaine daily.

"I didn't see anybody go in and buy tobacco. Nobody buys pop, nobody 
even goes to the fridge," Detective Constable Doodnath Churkoo said 
yesterday, recalling observations from the investigation. "They leave 
their car running, they go to the counter and it's right down to 
business. They never come out with anything visible."

Investigators began watching the business after a complaint and 
reported seeing as many as 80 drug transactions a day. Police swooped 
in on Wednesday, arrested two men and seized more than $330,000 worth 
of drugs and cash from the store and a home in Mississauga.

[Name redacted], 37, and [Name redacted], 34, both of Mississauga, 
were in court yesterday, facing 10 drug-related charges each.

Police say customers ranged from schoolchildren to adults.

"This one is pretty brazen," Det. Constable Churkoo said. "The 
neighbourhood knows it as the Blunt Shop."

The business does not have a sign but the telephone number is listed 
in that name, which is based on the slang term for a cigar emptied 
and repacked with marijuana.

No one was there early last night, the security cage was drawn and 
the lights off. Passersby said they knew nothing about the business; 
none admitted to shopping there.

People in the St. Clair and Runnymede area said the store was closed yesterday.

At the bakery and cafe next door, the clerk said that the Blunt Shop 
had a regular stream of customers. It was otherwise unremarkable, she 
said, adding that the proprietor seemed a pleasant guy.

"He was nice, he'd always come in to buy cakes," said Aisha Fazel of 
Caesars Oven.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman