A noticeable uptick in hashish supply driver robberies is being reported in Michigan, as authorities scramble to manage the issue earlier than it snowballs into one thing worse. The Michigan Hashish Regulatory Company (CRA) issued a bulletin Tuesday notifying hashish companies there’s been an increase in felony exercise.

Macomb Every day experiences that authorities are involved concerning the rise in crime within the metropolitan Detroit space. As supply drivers are compelled to hold round harmful quantities of money and/or hashish, they’re like sitting geese with a goal on their heads.

In accordance with a latest bulletin issued by the CRA on Jan. 17, officers have “recognized a sample in reported felony exercise involving the drivers,” reporting 13 thefts of hashish merchandise, all inside the previous six weeks. The MRA frequently posts bulletins when a problem arises, together with when a harmful sample emerges.

A rash of housebreaking incidents have been reported in Hazel Park and Ferndale in Oakland County, Utica in Macomb County, Westland, Hamtramck and Detroit in Wayne County, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Lansing. The burglaries started piling up because the starting of December 2022.

The info exhibits that the thefts usually occurred at homes on the time of supply. In some circumstances, armed robberies happened through which the drivers have been assaulted and their autos have been stolen.

When a theft takes place, time is ticking for the victims concerned. “Licensees and candidates are reminded that the executive guidelines require they notify the CRA and native legislation enforcement authorities inside 24 hours of changing into conscious of—or inside 24 hours of when the licensees ought to have been conscious of—the theft or lack of any product or felony exercise on the marijuana enterprise,” the CRA stated in a press launch.

“All suspicious exercise needs to be reported to the CRA (utilizing the shape out there right here) and native legislation enforcement. Questions might be despatched to the Hashish Regulatory Company Area Operations.”

Licensees are additionally reminded to look at for and report suspicious exercise to police and the CRA. The reporting type is accessible on-line.

Not Simply the Supply Drivers are At Threat

Supply drivers aren’t the one ones being focused by criminals. Simply final November, the CRA stated 117 break-ins happened at hashish companies from April by means of November 2022. Authorities additionally stated that the incidents happened primarily at adult-use shops somewhat than medical hashish dispensaries.

The CRA says the next ways have been widespread amongst break-ins: A suspect car parked within the far reaches of the parking zone or throughout the road; use of a device resembling a hammer or crowbar to enter the again door; or suspects enter the enterprise and take as a lot as they will and go away earlier than authorities arrive. A majority of the break-ins happened between 12 a.m. and seven a.m. all through West Michigan this yr, in keeping with the CRA.

It’s not simply occurring in Michigan, however in Oregon and Washington state as properly. Earlier this yr, about 30 robberies occurred in a one-month span in Washington.

The surges in robberies at licensed hashish outlets and amongst supply drivers provides to the urgency for a necessity for a invoice such because the SAFE Banking Act. The SAFE Banking Act, which didn’t go as far legislatively as individuals initially suspected in 2022, would clear up many of those issues.

“It makes completely no sense that authorized companies are being compelled to function completely in money, and it’s harmful—and typically even deadly—for workers behind the register,” Washington Sen. Patty Murray stated in an announcement emailed to The Related Press.