Temecula is free of marijuana dispensaries, thanks to a series of raids by a Riverside County law enforcement unit established to crack down on illegal cannabis activity, it was announced Friday, April 26.

Beginning in February, the Cannabis Regulation Task Force began conducting operations to rid Temecula of storefront marijuana outlets, serving nearly a dozen search warrants that resulted in cease-and-desist orders, putting the unlicensed dispensaries out of business, according to Riverside County District Attorney’s Office spokesman John Hall.

The city prohibits all cannabis-related commerce.

The following outlets were among those targeted by the task force: Golden State on Commerce Center Drive; Temecula Healing Center on Roick Drive; Temecula Valley Patient Care on Roick Drive; Bud Buddies on Remington Avenue; Karma Collective on Remington Avenue; 420 Friends on Zevo Drive; High Society Social Club on Via Montezuma; and Kings of Cannabis on Business Park Drive.

“The aim of the task force is not to shut down legally operating facilities, but rather to ensure fair business practices and keep criminal activity out of the legal cannabis industry and out of our communities,” Hall said.

“When dispensaries operate without following the law or regulations, their unfair business practices impact those dispensaries which are obeying the law.”

The task force, which is expected to carry out additional raids in the coming months, is comprised of District Attorney’s Office investigators, probation agents, sheriff’s deputies, officers from multiple municipal law enforcement agencies, as well as personnel from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and the California Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.