23 PEOPLE FACE 205 DRUG CHARGES

Police have arrested 23 people on 205 drug-related charges as the
result of a raid on an alleged marijuana trafficking operation in the
Beaches area of the city last night.

Police said they raided a drug paraphernalia shop called the G13
Shop, a three-storey house at 1905 Queen St. E. near Woodbine Ave.,
after a month-long undercover investigation.

Executing a search warrant, police seized 4,500 grams of marijuana,
151 marijuana plants and 1,00 grams of hashish and hash oil valued at
almost $300,000.

Police said they also found growing equipment, drug smoking
paraphernalia and almost $6,500 in cash.

It is alleged that the store, owned by the G13 Beaches Mission of God
Assembly of the Church of the Universe, sold marijuana and drug
paraphernalia to its paid members, police said.

There was also a smoking lounge for members on the premises, they added.

One of the men arrested had a permit for personal medical marijuana
use from Health Canada.

But police maintain that the man was trafficking the drug and had
large amounts in his possession that exceeded the permit.

Police were first alerted to the store after Beach-area residents and
businesses complained about disorderly conduct at the store.

The G13 store, named after a strain of marijuana, advocated for the
medical use of cannabis, which its website says "has been
misrepresented by the government through prohibition and propaganda."

According to the website and a sign on the front of the building, the
G13 Shop is associated with the Toronto chapter of the Assembly of
the Church of the Universe, which was voted the city's "Best House of
Worship" by an annual reader poll in the current issue of NOW Magazine.

In last night's raid, police arrested 11 people on 193 drug-
trafficking charges. They also arrested 12 people, who allegedly
purchased marijuana at the store, on drug charges.

[Name Redacted], 42; [Name Redacted], 26; [Name Redacted], 43; [Name
Redacted], 44; [Name Redacted], 18; [Name Redacted], 18; [Name
Redacted], 44; [Name Redacted], 20; [Name Redacted], 26; [Name
Redacted], 49; [Name Redacted], 18, all of Toronto face numerous drug-
related charges.

[Name Redacted], 35; [Name Redacted], 32; [Name Redacted], 30; [Name
Redacted], 19; [Name Redacted], 20; [Name Redacted], 30, [Name
Redacted], 19; [Name Redacted], 35; [Name Redacted], 42; [Name
Redacted], 25, an unnamed 17-year-old, all of Toronto and [Name
Redacted], 20, of Whitby all face marijuana possession charges.