Members of the Missoula County Sheriff's Office and a drug task force executed a search warrant late Thursday afternoon at Montana Pain Management, a medical marijuana provider on South Third Street West.

The warrant was obtained "in relation to the belief that the crime of illegal sales of dangerous drugs was occurring," said Missoula County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg.

Shaun Shrader, an employee at the shop, said the officers came into the office at about 5 p.m. and frisked him and a client. The office remained open for a while after that, although other clients who approached were turned away.

"Are you the police?" said one young woman to someone walking up to the office. "No? Then you'd better get out of here."

Rick Rosio, president of Montana Pain Management, termed the search a sort of "compliance check," and said law enforcement officers sought patient and financial files.

"We wondered when this would come," he said.

"A search warrant is not a compliance check," Van Valkenburg said.

Rosio said about 10 people work at Montana Pain Management, which serves about 300 patients. It's been at the Third Street location for about a year.