More than 40 pounds of marijuana, 100 plants and $5,600 in cash were seized from an illegal marijuana delivery service in the Midway District, where a dozen employees were arrested Wednesday.

Most of the 12 were drivers for Left Coast Collective on Kurtz Street near Sherman Street, said San Diego police Lt. Matt Novak of the narcotics unit.

“It was a large operation they were running there,” Novak said. “It was pretty apparent they were moving a lot of product.”

Officers confiscated 41 pounds of high-grade marijuana, 8,000 edible and concentrated cannabis products, more than 100 plants being grown indoors, as well as cocaine, cash and hundreds of business records.


Novak said he believes the owners have been running the delivery business for a couple of years, but not always at Kurtz Street.

Those cited and released Wednesday and anyone arrested in a follow-up investigation face charges of marijuana sales and operating a business without a license.

Novak’s team has been targeting unlicensed marijuana dispensaries around the city for 18 months. They have closed 61 so far and have a few more on their list. He said dozens of owners and operators have been fined or criminally charged by the City Attorney’s Office.

“This is our first delivery service case,” Novak said Thursday, adding that there are a number of others operating in the city. “They will receive the same enforcement we have been giving the dispensaries.”


Investigators are aware that other delivery methods, including buses, are finding their way into San Diego, Novak said. Various websites offer “marijuana tourism” as well as list locations of dispensaries and delivery services.

“We’re just trying to stay on top of it,” Novak said. “We made a huge dent in the dispensaries.”

He said 10 marijuana dispensaries are licensed to operate in San Diego and are allowed to provide delivery service.