MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni announced Jan. 28 that her Cannabis Enforcement Unit has resolved a case against Faith & Family Farms LLC, a licensed cannabis cultivator located at 22730 Fuji Lane, south of Salinas in unincorporated Monterey County.
The case resolves allegations that the company used unlicensed transporters to distribute their cannabis products, and that they failed to include all of their product in the state’s cannabis track-and-trace system.
Under the terms of the stipulated judgment, Faith & Family Farms was ordered to pay $120,000 in civil penalties and is subject to injunctive relief prohibiting future violations of state and local cannabis laws.
Cannabis cultivation is a highly regulated industry in California. State and local laws govern the cultivation, harvesting, transportation and sale of cannabis. To prevent unlawful diversion into the illicit market, cannabis is tracked from “seed to sale” through the state’s mandatory track-and-trace system, Metrc. All licensed cannabis businesses are required to accurately record their activities in Metrc and to only conduct business with other licensed businesses.
On Dec. 20, 2023, Monterey County investigators and inspectors conducted a routine inspection at 22785 Fuji Lane, a property licensed to Monterey Botanicals, and observed employees of Faith & Family Farms loading cannabis clones onto a tractor trailer owned and operated by RP Trucking, an unlicensed transporter.
“When questioned by investigators, a manifest and receipt were created that did not correspond to the plants loaded onto the truck,” according to the DA’s Office. “The manifest was fraudulently provided to investigators. Further investigation revealed that the cannabis clones being loaded were not tracked in the Metrc system, as required by law.”
Investigators then reviewed Faith & Family Farms’ Metrc manifest history, which revealed repeated instances in which the cultivator “used unlicensed transporters to transport cannabis, in violation of law,” stated the DA’s Office.
