Charges against pot clerks go ahead

Prosecutors say drug trafficking charges against two clerks arrested during raids on Magna Terra marijuana dispensaries in Ottawa are going ahead, contrary to a previous report in the Citizen.

Charges against two of the seven people arrested during raids on two Magna Terra shops last March were withdrawn, according to records given to the Citizen by the court. While that is correct, the charges were subsequently filed again, said a spokeswoman for the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.

The court clerk who gave the Citizen the original information, due to an oversight, failed to notice that charges had been refiled with the court.

Apparently the charges were withdrawn because the information had been lost in the court system, so the paperwork had to be refiled.

The man and woman face charges of drug trafficking and possessing the proceeds of crime.

The development means that no charges have been withdrawn against “budtenders” arrested for drug trafficking in raids on the city’s illegal pot shops. In all, 35 people have been charged in such raids over the last year, and another five people were taken into custody on Tuesday when police raided Cannabis Culture on Bank Street.

In total, seven people have pleaded guilty, 13 are awaiting trials or preliminary hearings, and the remainder are making their way through the court process.