Santa Cruz thieves steal half a million dollars of marijuana

Wild video has captured a group of thieves making off with a half a million dollars worth of marijuana from a California cannabis shop.

Surveillance video outside the 3Bros marijuana warehouse on Fair Avenue in Santa Cruz shows at least four cars parked outside the business as masked robbers load the vehicles with dozens of bags of weed.

Santa Cruz Police said the men used force to break into the store at around 2:30 a.m. last Thursday and drove off in different directions once the job was done.

A witness told KSBW that the thieves were armed and worked so efficiently that they were in and out in less than 15 minutes.

“They were masked up, clubbed up, and I had a really hard time even making the description of the people because of the weapons I saw,” he said.

Police believe the group was also responsible for a second robbery at another cannabis store on Sunday in the city’s Harvey West Park neighborhood.

Officials added that the thieves were likely using stolen vehicles and license plates during the heists, making it even harder to track down the suspects.

With more than a dozen marijuana dispensaries operating in Santa Cruz alone, Police Deputy Chief Jon Bush said crimes against the businesses have become more common.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t something that’s just occurring in Santa Cruz,” he told KSBW. “It’s across all the Bay Area and the region, especially with the recent increase in marijuana dispensaries being allowed to sell marijuana.”

Bay Area police rang the alarms over the uptick in robberies targeting cannabis shops in 2021, when Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong told reporters that hundreds of vehicles targeted marijuana stores that November, firing 175 shots and stealing about $5 million worth of products. 

Officials said thieves often target marijuana businesses because they incorrectly believe the stores carry a lot of cash on hand.