Authorities shut down an illegal distribution operation providing prompt delivery of weed and edibles sent coast to coast via trackable orders from FedEx and UPS. Cannabis and edibles were delivered right to customers’ doorsteps, or in some cases sold through a slot in a door. 

The two-dozen defendants arrested in the operation face serious charges, in some cases life imprisonment. 

According to a Jan. 31 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of New York, 24 people were arrested in connection with a smuggling operation using FedEx and UPS to mail out cannabis. 

Authorities on the receiving end of orders—upstate New York—launched the investigation, and say that the operation has been running for about six years.

“As alleged in the 99-count indictment, between at least 2016 and June 2022,” the statement reads, “Dwight A. Singletary II, aka ‘Nutt’ and ‘Mike Jones,’ McKenzie Merrialice Coles, aka ‘Kenzie,’ and others shipped thousands of kilograms of marijuana from a small shipping store called Fast Pack & Ship in Fresno, California, to locations throughout the United States, including the Capital Region of New York.”

Customers were texted with tracking information and receipts.

The report continued, “The marijuana was shipped in packages delivered by UPS and FedEx, and to enable the recipients to receive the packages, Singletary, Coles, and others text messaged receipts with package tracking information to the recipients. Singletary and Coles are from New York but moved to Fresno and, as alleged, principally operated their marijuana distribution scheme from California.”

Authorities explained that in the New York Capital Region, weed and edibles were taken to “knock spots”—places where cannabis was sold through a slot in a door. 

The nicknames of several other higher-ranking ring members were identified: David Singletary; Lawrence Mumphrey; Deandre Caldwell, aka ‘Dilli,’ ‘Dillinger,’ and ‘Dre’; Rosemary Coles; Niara Banks, aka ‘Nie’; Jazell Shuler; Toqwanda Ketchmore, aka ‘Quannie’; Victor Turner; JuneAllyson Osman, aka ‘Juney’; Consanga Harris, aka ‘Sondy’; and LaFay Pearson, aka ‘Lala.’

Multiple law enforcement agencies worked together in tandem to carry out the operation.

The statement was credited to United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman; John B. DeVito, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); Frank A. Tarentino III, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York Division; Chief Daniel DeWolf of the Troy Police Department; and Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

The press release explains how proceeds from the sale of cannabis and edibles were allegedly laundered through a variety of means.

Specific minimum and maximum terms of imprisonment on the most serious counts were listed for each defendant.

For the more serious offenses, defendants face up to life imprisonment and minimum 10-year sentences. The youngest defendant, Alyssa June White, is 29 years of age, and the oldest, Rosemary Coles, is 70 years old.

The defendants who have appeared in court have been released with conditions pending trial, but not for Dwight Singletary, David Singletary, and Lawrence Mumphrey—who were ordered to be detained following detention hearings earlier this month before U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel J. Stewart.

The report explains that the ATF, DEA, Troy Police Department, Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, and HSI are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cyrus P.W. Rieck and Dustin C. Segovia are prosecuting the case.

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Consumers in Toronto can order cannabis via the food delivery platform Uber Eats through a partnership with local dispensaries and the online marijuana resource Leafly that launched on Monday. 

“We are partnering with industry leaders like Leafly to help retailers offer safe, convenient options for people in Toronto to purchase legal cannabis for delivery to their homes, which will help combat the illegal market and help reduce impaired driving,” Lola Kassim, general manager of Uber Eats Canada, said in a statement from the two companies on Sunday. “Over the last few years, we have invested heavily in our delivery business and selection has expanded tremendously. Uber Eats has grown quickly to become a versatile platform usable by diverse businesses large and small.”

Under the new program, Toronto residents aged 19 and older can use the Uber Eats app to order cannabis from one of three licensed retailers: Hidden Leaf Cannabis, Minerva Cannabis and Shivaa’s Rose. Orders will then be filled by the businesses and delivered by dispensary employees who have been certified by CannSell, a training and certification program required in the province of Ontario.

The partnership between Uber Technologies and Leafly is designed in part to help address competition from Canada’s illicit cannabis market, which persists despite the country’s legalization of cannabis in 2018. The new cannabis home delivery program will also improve access for consumers and patients while keeping the city’s roadways safer.

“First and foremost, we see this as a critical piece to helping discourage impaired driving, and secondly, this is just another initiative that can help combat the illegal cannabis market, which still makes up more than 40% of cannabis sales in Ontario today,” Kassim told CBC Toronto. “So, we’re providing an option that goes beyond in-store, that goes beyond pickup and it’s also an option for consumers on a platform like Uber Eats, which many Torontonians already know and love and also is built on, you know, trust and safety.”

Data from the Ontario Cannabis Store, the province’s only wholesaler of legal recreational marijuana, shows that nearly 57% of the cannabis bought between the beginning of the year and the end of March was purchased through the regulated supply chain. The figure is based on information provided by consumers to Statistics Canada, a fact that may affect the accuracy due to the reluctance of many to admit cannabis use to government agencies.

Home Delivery Launched During Pandemic

Home delivery of cannabis by regulated businesses was launched in Ontario in 2020 when restrictions put in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic were enacted. Under the temporary rules, licensed shops could use couriers to deliver products to customers. The province’s cannabis regulatory agency, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), made the home delivery rules permanent with several new restrictions in March.

Under the regulations, a cannabis delivery service must be part of a licensed brick-and-mortar shop and must not derive its business primarily or exclusively through delivery sales. Orders must be placed with and filled by a specific store rather than a network of shops. Deliveries to third parties are not allowed, and all orders must be delivered while the dispensary filling the order is open for business. Because purchases are delivered by dispensary employees, food orders through Uber Eats must be placed separately from cannabis delivery orders.

To place orders, customers can open the Uber Eats app and select the “cannabis” category or search for one of the three retailers. The customer must be within the shop’s delivery radius to place an order for delivery. Once an order is accepted by the retailer, the customer will receive a notification of the approximate delivery time. When dispensary staff arrives to deliver the order, they are required to check the age and sobriety of the customer in accordance with Ontario regulations and CannSell training.

Marissa Taylor, co-owner of Hidden Leaf, said that she wanted to partner with Uber Eats and Leafly because she believes it will help her expand the customer base at her location in North York, which already has a loyalty program in place.

“We’re a small business and really it was just to help be able to get cannabis to a broader number of people,” she said. “Accessibility is not always easy for everyone… and then to expand our reach, e-commerce is definitely the way to go.”

The Uber Eats partnership with Leafly is the food delivery platform’s first to offer home delivery of cannabis products to customers. In November, Uber Eats launched a program that allows consumers in Ontario to order cannabis through the app from the Tokyo Smoke chain of retail shops. But the platform does not offer delivery, requiring customers to visit a dispensary to pick up orders.

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