Authorities with a police task force nearly a month ago raided smoke shops in Oakwood, Moraine, Springboro and Washington Twp. after investigators said they discovered the businesses were selling products containing illegal THC.
Search warrants were executed by the Tactical Crime Suppression Unit, a police task force whose members include law enforcement from Centerville, Germantown, Kettering, Miamisburg, Moraine, Oakwood, Springboro and West Carrollton.
Dayton is not a member of the task force, and a spokesperson for the group said the city of Dayton was not part of its investigation.
Ziad Zamara, a Kettering resident, worked at the Oakwood VIP Smoke Shop. In a civil complaint filed Monday in the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, he says police on April 10 confiscated $9,350 belonging to him that was in cash, personal checks and money orders.
Zamara manages rental properties, and the money and payments authorities confiscated were the rents owed by tenants of those properties, the complaint states.
The complaint claims that Zamara’s money and property are in the possession of the Dayton Police Department, possibly in the evidence room.
Zamara has asked for the money and property to be returned but that has not happened, according to the lawsuit, which is seeking the return of the property, plus compensatory damages.
On April 10, the Tactical Crime Suppression Unit executed search warrants at the Springboro Vape & Smoke Shop and three VIP Smoke Shops, at 9144 Dayton-Lebanon Pike in Washington Twp.; at 6 Oakwood Ave. in Oakwood; and at 5410 N. Springboro Pike in Moraine.
Police said undercover officers purchased products from these smoke shops that later tested positive for illegal THC, which is a psychoactive substance found in marijuana.
An attorney representing VIP Smoke Shops said his client had no idea some of the products sold at the stores may have contained illegal substances.
Smoke shops, gas stations, convenience stores and other establishments across the region and state sell products that contain Delta-8, which is legal in Ohio because it is derived from hemp.
Delta-8 can produce a high when smoked or ingested, though it is generally believed to less powerful than standard THC. But police said some vape products and edible candies contained illegal THC.
The city of Dayton and Zamara’s attorney have not responded to requests for further comment.
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