In a concerted effort to ensure local tobacco retailers comply with regulations, the Ceres Police Department teamed up with California's tax authority to inspect smoke shops for unlawful products. According to the department's Facebook post, the collaboration took place on Saturday, with inspections conducted across Ceres.

As a result of these inspections, three establishments were caught red-handed, selling illicit hemp and flavored tobacco products in violation of the STAKE Act. According to the post by Ceres Police, every shop audited that day was harboring illegal goods. Further complicating matters, brass knuckles turned up at one location, their mere presence a criminal breach byway of the Penal Code.

The crackdown's haul was not insubstantial, with agents snatching up some 3,500 items deemed illegal, their value tethering on the precipice of a $175,000 fine. It wasn't just store shelves where these contraband products nestled; one proprietor smuggled stash lay hidden in the car he'd parked nearby—decidedly a less-than-stellar place for hiding illicit inventory.

Commenting on the ambition and scope of the operation, Acting Chief Trenton Johnson was direct: "The Ceres Police Department remains committed to partnering with CDTFA, the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, and allied law enforcement agencies to utilize every available legal tool and resource to identify and hold accountable businesses that blatantly disregard the law and jeopardize the health and safety of our community for profit.” With these words, the Department reminded the public of their unwavering pursuit of illicit activities camouflaged within legal enterprise—a pursuit that has now yielded tangible results.