Twenty-five people are facing 50 charges after Hamilton police and OPP executed warrants at all four Georgia Peach dispensary locations Thursday.

"We currently have all four secured and we are in the process of dealing with the people that were found inside, securing the evidence, those kinds of things," Hamilton police Deputy Chief Dan Kinsella said around 12:30 p.m.

Police were expected to lock the locations, he said.

Officers from the newly formed Provincial Joint Forces Cannabis Enforcement Team, which includes three seconded Hamilton officers, entered the Georgia Peach locations - including one on George Street, another on Dundurn Street South and two more on Upper James Street - with a warrant.

Earlier this month, Hamilton police shuttered an illegal cannabis dispensary, changing the locks and installing an alarm, for the first time under new powers granted by the Ontario Cannabis Act.

The same process was applied at Dank Dispensary after an overnight break-in at the Upper Sherman Avenue location last week, Kinsella said.

In the past, raided pot shops often reopened soon after a bust, but police believe the new legislation can put a stop to that cycle.

"I think what you can expect and what the community can prepare for is if we are forced into the position where we have to prepare the warrants and go and close them down, this is what can be expected in every instance," Kinsella said.

He said he hopes landlords and building owners with illegal dispensaries operating in their properties will take action and shut down the dispensaries themselves.

If the courts don't back charges up with convictions and stiff penalties, the businesses could be ordered turned back over to owners.

Kinsella said police are hoping for support from the courts.

npaddon@thespec.com

905-526-2420 | @NatatTheSpec

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