Atlantic Beach smoke shop suing Horry County police over ‘illegal’ seizure
An Atlantic Beach smoke shop is suing the Horry County Police Department over the alleged wrongful seizure of legal products.
Horry County officers searched and took items from the 420 Super Store LLC, located at 2910 Highway 17 South, on Jan. 11, 2024, according to the evidence record submitted as a court document.
Police confiscated more than 70 products, including gummies and disposable cartridges. The on-duty manager was also arrested and charged with possession and intent, according to online court documents. However, the store claims the seizure of the goods was illegal, as they contained the legal amount of THC.
The county did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Horry County, the same day the Myrtle Beach Police Department executed search warrants on five smoke shops suspected of selling illicit substances disguised as candy and other food, including A&B Tobacco and Vape. Police did not say which other stores were searched, or what was seized.
In December 2023, a member of the Horry County Police Street Crimes unit contacted the police department after entering 420 Super Store and seeing marijuana in boxes on the floor that were for sale to the public. When a store employee was questioned about the substance, they said the store gets it shipped from Florida, “because it was legal there,” according to a search warrant.
In January, an undercover agent was sent into the store, and purchased Delta-9 and other products they believed were marijuana, the warrant continues. The store clerk displayed “intimate” knowledge of the products’ legality, stating that one product contained under 0.3% THC until fire was put to it. The clerk also acknowledged that certain products may be illegal in South Carolina, according to the warrant.
After the undercover agent bought the items, police requested the search warrant, saying they suspected additional evidence of “drug trafficking crime” would be found.
But the store now claims that all of the products sold in and seized from the store were completely legal, and that they had undergone testing ensuring that none of them exceeded legal THC content in South Carolina, the lawsuit states.
Hemp products are legally distinguished as marijuana when they pass 0.3% THC content on a dry weight basis.
In the lawsuit, the store claims it has sold these products since they were made legal in the state, and never made any attempts to conceal their sale of the products. It also claims that other nearby stores, such as Hemp X directly across the street, sold the same items.
The store asserts in the lawsuit that it never sold illegal products either knowingly or unknowingly, and always secured products from reputable distributors. The lawsuit claims that the seizure was in violation of the U.S. Constitution, and resulted in tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise being taken.
The lawsuit also claims that there was not sufficient probable cause displayed for the search to take place at all.
