Portland, Oregon cannabis dispensaries have been the target of at least 47 break-ins since late May, according to a Willamette Week report. At that rate, dispensaries in the city are targeted by break-ins on every other night.
Three of the store owners told WW that they were victims of armed robberies, including one in which the employees were held at gunpoint and were bound with zip ties.
The Oregon Liquor Control Commission says that over the last three months, 60 dispensaries have reported lost product, totaling $135,000 in June alone. Portland Extracts owner Jordan Jacobsen told WW that his shop was hit in August and the robbers stole $200,000 worth of product.
Amberlight Cannabis House manager Camille Farrell said that $16,000 worth of product was stolen from her shop last month – and they attempted to rob the place again just two weeks later. She said the group seems “aware that police don’t have quick response times” and were in the shop for at least 25 minutes while the alarm “was going off the entire time.”
Dispensary owners told WW that they believe the robbers map out their routes since multiple shops in the same parts of town – often on the same street – are being targeted on the same night.
Earlier this year, police in Portland and Salem said they were investigating a burglary ring and had made one arrest which led to $33,000 in cash, 30 pounds of cannabis, six pounds of hash oil, 16 firearms, and burglary tools, along with clothing and other evidence from the victimized businesses.
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