Illicit Connecticut marijuana operator hit with $5 million judgment

Connecticut’s attorney general won a $4.93 million judgment against a marijuana store in East Haven and its owner for continuing illicit sales.

The judgment against Planet Zaza and owner Mohamed Alraishani is the largest civil penalty Connecticut has imposed for illegal cannabis sales, according to a news release from Connecticut’s Office of the Attorney General.

“The state of Connecticut is not playing around. Legal cannabis is not a free-for-all,” Attorney General William Tong said in a statement.

“If you are unlicensed, if you sell untested, unregulated cannabis, we will find you and hold you accountable.”

Planet Zaza was one of seven businesses that Tong’s office sued in January 2024 for violating the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUPTA).

Alraishani’s store came under scrutiny after unannounced inspections uncovered numerous cannabis edibles with higher concentrations of THC than allowed under Connecticut law.

Investigators from the state Department of Consumer Protection and the Office of the Attorney General also discovered unauthorized labels, including ones for fake prescription indicating that the store was a licensed medical marijuana dispensary, the release noted.

Products sold at Planet Zaza were not manufactured in a licensed facility or tested according to state law.

Planet Zaza and Alraishani ignored court-ordered temporary injunction issued Nov. 12 to cease the illegal sales, according to the release.

The court ordered Planet Zaza and Alraishani to pay $5,000 for each of the 621 days they violated the CUPTA and $25,000 for each of the 73 days they violated the temporary injunction.