Thieves stole $150,000 worth of processed cannabis flower from a licensed cultivator in South Anchorage, Alaska early Tuesday morning and have yet to be caught, according to a KTUU report. The owner of Danish Gardens, Dane Wyrick, said four people, a woman and three men, broke through the front door with a sledgehammer and stuffed about 36 pounds of flower into black garbage bags.
“It’s not something we can recover from, the product is lost and, unfortunately, even if we found the product, and found it red-handed, we could not bring it back into the store. The state of Alaska would quarantine the product as contaminated and we wouldn’t be able to get it back anyway.” – Wyrick, in an KTUU interview
The early morning robbery was caught on the cultivator’s security cameras and, following the break-in, Wyrick indicated he has hired armed security guards for the site. Anchorage Police have not released any additional details because the investigation is ongoing. In an interview with Anchorage Daily News, Wyrick suggested the burglary was employee-coordinated because the perpetrators appeared to know their way around the building, although he does not believe any employees took part in the smash-and-grab.
However, Wyrick also indicated that the state Marijuana Control Board puts detailed plans of sites online, including where a businesses alarms and cameras are, as part of the application process. Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office Director Erika McConnell told the Daily News that the agency would “need to consider the Public Records Act if they re-evaluate” the policy.