BY MARTIN BEGNAL
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
NAUGATUCK — Borough police have arrested two men after they were allegedly selling marijuana out of a van.
Two men have been charged with selling marijuana from this van in Naugatuck. The detailing says ‘Rollaholic Mobile Dispensary’ and has Connecticut registration plates.
The Naugatuck Police Department began to receive complaints on Feb. 2 of a van in the area of Walmart, at 1100 New Haven Road, due to its “Mobile Dispensary” with marijuana leaf signs covering the van and soliciting in the area. It was also reported that the driver of the van was openly advertising and selling marijuana, according to a police report.
Police made contact with the van the next afternoon, and through investigations discovered the two men were selling marijuana and CBD-related items with neither a sales nor dispensary permit, the report states.
Borough police arrested Stanley Livington, 30, of Bridgeport, and charged him with fourth-degree conspiracy to commit/money laundering in the fourth-degree, money laundering, illegal sales without sales tax permit, violation of town ordinance and conspiracy to commit/sale of controlled substance.
Police also arrested James Brown, 25, of Queens, N.Y., and charged him with fourth-degree conspiracy to commit money laundering in the fourth-degree, money laundering, illegal sales without a sales tax permit, violation of a town ordinance and conspiracy to commit/sale of a controlled substance.
The van was seized by police as well. The two suspects were each released on a $5,000 bond and scheduled to appear in Waterbury Superior Court on March 2.
Recreational marijuana became legal in the state in July 2021. Retail sale of recreational cannabis in Connecticut started Jan. 10.
It is illegal to sell THC-related items, including CBD from a vehicle and there are no such permits, police said in the report.
This incident comes after the Zoning Commission last month approved the creation of Section 44A Cannabis Regulations for the Borough of Naugatuck Land Use Regulations, which includes no cannabis establishment shall be located within 500 feet from another cannabis establishment or within 500 feet of the property line of any borough school, public playground or public park. The new regulations went into effect on Monday.
The Board of Mayor and Burgesses is expected to develop and approve a new cannabis ordinance to supplement to the new regulations.
