Items from pot shops like bongs, electronics and furniture will be put up for auction on Friday after state officials seized them during a search warrant to collect unpaid taxes.
Search warrants were issued for 10 Los Angeles-based cannabis businesses, which together owed more than $14.4 million in unpaid taxes. Nine of the businesses were operating illegally, while the other one was a legal dispensary.
This is the first time the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, or the CDTFA, will auction off personal property seized during cannabis enforcement operations. Proceeds from the auction will apply toward the liabilities owed by each of the 10 debtors, a news release said.
The items auctioned off will include three glass bongs, one monitor, five televisions, one speaker, one ladder, two sandwich boards, one projector, six crowd control poles, one snow cone machine, two cameras, one raffle wheel, and at least two shelves,
An air purifier, soundboard, a refrigerator, a La-Z-Boy chair, a portable air conditioner, framed art and expensive sound equipment.
Bidders can’t buy pieces individually but instead will have to buy an entire collection of items, according to the report.
Items will be sold “as is” and go to the highest bidder. State officials didn’t specify where the bidding would begin.
Items need to be collected on Friday and can be purchased with cash, money order, or cashier’s checks, according to a news release.
The auction will be held at a CHP parking lot at 777 W. Washington Blvd. in Los Angeles. An auction preview and bidding registration will begin at 9 a.m. and bidding will start at 10 a.m.
