TORONTO — Police say marijuana dispensaries operating illegally in Toronto have been the target of violent, armed robberies but their business owners and employees often don't report them to authorities.
Toronto police Supt. Bryce Evans says there have been 17 robberies of so-called pot shops since last June and eight of them were not reported to police.
During some of those robberies, Evans says people in the stores were stabbed, pistol-whipped, pepper-sprayed and shot at.
He says those alleged crimes were reported to police by customers or neighbours.
Police say marijuana dispensaries deal mostly in cash — one of the shops takes in $30,000 in cash daily — and alleged robbers are after both money and drugs.
Evans says they have made some arrests related to the robberies, but their investigations are being hampered by the lack of co-operation from owners, who they say aren't providing information and surveillance video.
