The Los Angeles Police Department has served eight search warrants, including two in the San Fernando Valley, at shops suspected of unlawful marijuana sales so far this year, the agency announced Wednesday.

While these eight locations have been shut down, there is likely between 200 and 300 more of such illegal establishments operating throughout the city, LAPD Deputy Chief John Sherman of the Operations-Valley Bureau told reporters at a news conference downtown.

Recreational marijuana sales became legal in the state on Jan. 1 under a voter-approved initiative, creating the nation’s largest legal cannabis market.

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LAPD is working closely with the city’s Department of Cannabis Regulation to implement relevant rules, Sherman said.

“However, we do have ongoing challenges with unauthorized establishments — unlawful and illegal clandestine operations — that are out operating either under the guise of medical marijuana or operating as unlawful and illegal cannabis (retailers) throughout the city,” Sherman said.

The city of Los Angeles began accepting and approving applications last month for temporary recreational sales licenses. In March, the city’s voters approved Measure M, which regulates and taxes marijuana in light of Prop. 64. Voters approved legalized recreational marijuana statewide in November 2016.

The eight search warrants served were among 18 problematic marijuana retailers identified throughout the city, Capt. Stephen Carmona of LAPD’s Gangs and Narcotics Division said Wednesday.

The search warrant investigations have resulted in 35 arrests, he said. Eleven arrests were for maintaining a drug house, two were for possession or sales while armed, one involved a minor selling marijuana, another for using a minor for marijuana sales, another for possession of a controlled substance, two for warrants and one for possession of a firearm. Sixteen arrests were made for operating an unlicensed activity.

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LAPD officers also seized nine firearms, one rifle, eight handguns and more than $56,000 in currency, Carmona said.

About 12 property crimes and 12 violent crimes were tied to these illicit businesses, he added.

LAPD has always focused on locations with “significant criminal activity” and that has not changed, Carmona said. However, he acknowledged that it “could be the case” that certain illicit establishments may be able to hide more easily because people may assume they are now legal.

On Feb. 7, a search warrant was issued at an “illicit, clandestine” marijuana shop near Laurel Canyon and Van Nuys boulevards in Pacoima, Sherman said.

It was the third such warrant served there since May of 2013. Previously, several individuals involved were convicted of crimes and sentenced and the shop was closed, he said. But it had reopened at its location near the St. Mary Immaculate School, generating community complaints.

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Four people were arrested last week — including two for felonies — at the shop for various violations. Among the violations, the shop’s security guard was not licensed and was armed, Sherman said.

Three loaded firearms were recovered from the location, including one that had been stolen within the last two months from the community of Panorama City, according to LAPD officials. The person who had the firearm was a convicted felon.

In addition, the shop had a 19-year-old person serving as an employee there selling cannabis, while another employee was also a minor. It’s unlawful for anyone under the age of 21 to possess or sell cannabis.

A half-million dollars in marijuana products were recovered from the location, according to the LAPD.

Another search warrant was served Wednesday morning at a location in the Van Nuys area, but Sherman had no further details.

There are a number of known unlicensed cannabis retailers in LAPD’s Foothill Division, including five in Pacoima, 10 in Sun Valley, four in Sunland, and three in Tujunga, according to LAPD officials. Several of them are clandestine, with no signs identifying the location as a marijuana store.

Sun Valley has three known licensed marijuana shops while Tujunga has one known licensed one.

Seven new stores have been discovered in the Foothill Division within the past two months, according to LAPD officials.

Residents can go to cannabis.lacity.org and click on the legal businesses tab to find out which businesses have been granted temporary approval to sell marijuana within the city, said Cat Packer, executive director of the city’s Department of Cannabis Regulation. Businesses also need state permission to operate and are required to prominently display both their state and local authorization.

About 100 locations have received temporary approval from the city so far, which allows businesses to continue to operate while their applications are being processed for marijuana sales, Packer said.

State law has governed the adult use of marijuana, including consumption, transportation and cultivation following Prop. 64’s approval. But cities still get to ban or regulate commercial cannabis operations within their borders.

“The Los Angeles Police Department is going to continue to identify these locations that we believe create or harbor criminal activity around them, and generate community complaints, relative to quality of life, the business community or residential community,” Sherman said.