Authorities are investigating a Minnesota-based medical marijuana producer over the alleged illegal transport of $500,000 worth of medical cannabis oil, according to a Star Tribune report.
A former employee at Minnesota Medical Solutions has accused the licensed cannabis producer of transporting the oil illegally from its production facility in Minnesota to its parent company’s New York location, which was reportedly short on its production deadline at the time. The search warrant was filed May 26 in Hennepin County.
“We are confident the claims relied upon by regulatory authorities to begin the investigation will be found to be false,” the producers’ parent company Vireo Health said in a statement.
The former employee said they had been privy to a conversation among several MinnMed administrative officials, in which a significant inventory of cannabis oil was said could maybe “rescue New York.” According to the employee, the company’s chief medical officer (CMO) offered to drive the oil via armored car to New York and “make the inventory disappear.”
Health officials audited MinnMed’s Otsego location in May and found a missing inventory page from Dec. 16, which tracked product transfers out of the facility. Investigators also noted that there had been several product transfers in December with no recorded destination. Furthermore, many of said transfers were conducted after-hours, something that health officials eventually learned was “out of the ordinary.” In total, these transfers involved more than 5,580 grams of cannabis oil.
Vireo has released a two-page statement that says their New York location was not low on inventory and that the missing oil had been destroyed. The company said the discrepancies are a result of using tracking software designed for cannabis flower to account for oil products. According to the statement, this has led to dozens of transfers without listing a destination, “not just the small number of entries cherry-picked by the disgruntled former employee.”