Last summer, during the protests following George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer, legal cannabis businesses in San Francisco and Oakland, California were repeatedly burglarized by what victims as well as authorities described as organized break-in crews.
Though police did make some arrests, a year and a half later, instead of deterred, thieves appear emboldened. In the past two weeks, at least 25 cannabis businesses—including retail storefronts as well as cultivation and distribution centers— in Oakland alone have been burglarized, with damages in excess of $5 million.
