Boy, 16, among several charged with selling weed outside of shuttered dispensary

Toronto police say a 16-year-old boy is among several people charged on Sunday night with selling cannabis in front of an illegal dispensary that was recently closed by police and city bylaw officers.

Police said they received several complaints from area residents, saying individuals were congregating and dealing cannabis products in front of 66 Ford York Blvd. where a CAFE dispensary had been operating before it was closed down by authorities.

In a release, police said the teen suspect was “observed purchasing cannabis from one of the adults, at which point he walked to the back of a line of people and redistributed the cannabis he had purchased in exchange for cash.”

The teen, who can’t be named, and Micheyas Kebede, 24, of Toronto are each facing Cannabis Act charges of knowingly distribute illicit cannabis, sell cannabis to an adult, and possess proceeds obtained by crime.

Devin Knowles, 37, of Toronto faces a single charge of possession of illicit cannabis.

The following are each facing charges of organization to distribute cannabis: Ashton Wilson-Clarke, 24, of Toronto, Ayisha Oliver-Gemerts, 20, of Toronto, Michael Tourani, 27, of Toronto, Naim Tafader, 27, of Toronto, Cheryl Wilson, 36, of Toronto, and Rizwaan Abbas, 37,of Pickering.

They have all been released and will appear in court at a later date.

Police have been playing an ongoing game of cat-and-mouse with people allegedly selling cannabis outside of the legal framework.

Several people were also charged with selling cannabis over the weekend in front of another CAFE dispensary location on Harbord Street.

Since April, bylaw officers have been raiding and closing four CAFE locations in the city, only to have them continually reopen.

Most recently, CAFE operators removed 4,000-pound cement blocks that were placed in front of the entrance of the Harbord location on July 17 and reopened a day later.

Sunday’s arrests come as Toronto police were seen earlier that afternoon handing out tickets in and around the various CAFE-branded storefronts.

RELATED: The Big Story podcast | Inside CAFE: The illegal pot dispensary police can’t shut down

GUEST: Adrian Ghobrial, CityNews Toronto