Man called his home ‘Margaweedaville’ — and sold drugs off a menu board, SC cops say

An elaborate mom-and-pop drug operation called “Margaweedaville” has served its last order, according to the Florence County Sheriff’s Office.

The shop, based in a Florence neighborhood, was closed after police said “an extensive undercover operation” found it was peddling marijuana in a take-out approach. Florence is about 80 miles northeast of Columbia.

Among the items found with a search warrant: A menu board that listed multiple strains of marijuana, portion sizes, price options and THC percentage, officials said.

A photo of the menu board shared on Facebook showed offerings dubbed papaya cake, jet fuel, mimosa and blue cookies. Each listing included a brief description of how the user would feel, from “relaxed” to “euphoric” to “uplifted.”

South Carolina is one of six states in the U.S. where marijuana remains illegal — both recreational and medicinal — and isn’t decriminalized, along with Idaho, Wyoming, Kansas, Tennessee and Alabama.

“Drug dealers are getting bolder in their packaging and the marketing of their illegal products, especially to children,” Sheriff T.J. Joye said in the news release. “But we’re committed to taking back our neighborhoods.”

The three-bedroom home is in the Tara Village subdivision on the south side of Florence, officials said. A search of the house uncovered more than “11 pounds of marijuana including approximately 800 pre-rolled marijuana products, THC edibles, wax, a hydraulic press, 2 firearms, approximately $2,700.00 in U.S. currency and other drug paraphernalia,” officials said.

Two adults who police say lived in the home with a child were arrested. Austen Lorenzo Regalado, 24, was charged with trafficking in marijuana and unlawful conduct toward a child, and Alice Elizabeth Bell Regalado, 23, was charged with unlawful conduct toward a child, officials said.

“Investigators allege that in addition to the trafficking charge, both subjects allowed a small child to reside in the residence with unsecured firearms, multiple pounds of illegal narcotics, some of which are in edible form and where the subjects are alleged to have engaged in criminal activity,” the sheriff’s department said.

This story was originally published April 7, 2021 at 12:55 PM with the headline "Man called his home ‘Margaweedaville’ — and sold drugs off a menu board, SC cops say."