ONSLOW COUNTY — Three deputies from the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office are being sued for seizing thousands of dollars of hemp products and ransacking vape shops, after a controversial operation led to shops being raided statewide.
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Roughly 100 vape shops were part of Operation Vapor Trail, with 71 in Onslow and New Hanover counties having been charged for selling illegal hemp products. The raids took place as part of a collaboration among the Drug Enforcement Administration, Onslow County Sheriff’s Office, New Hanover County Sheriffs, Jacksonville Police, Hope Mills Police Department and Wilmington Police Department. Its mission is to identify and confiscate illegal vape products.
In a Sept. 18 press release, Hope Mills PD said there had been multiple overdoses from vape products. The release also said the marketing of the products was dangerously targeting younger people and kids by making the packaging resemble cereal and candy brands.
However, a group of businesses in Onslow County have opened a lawsuit claiming wrongful search and seizures took place at their stores, in violation of the North Carolina Constitution’s “fruits of their labor” provision. The provision protects the right of citizens to choose their own profession and make a living from their work without governments being overly involved.
Plaintiffs are seeking damages and injunctive relief to continue operating their businesses without “illegal harassment, search, seizure, and prosecution,” as stated in the suit.
53 Mini Mart & Tobacco and its owner Tareq Alsaede, Hubert’s Tobacco Inc., whose owner is not listed, and Muammer Saleh, whose stores are unnamed to remain protected, have sued Onslow County Sheriff Chris Thomas, Lt. Jay Floyd, and Sgt. Rubin Jimenez. The lawsuit filed on Dec. 6 has not been served to the defendants yet, according to OCSD spokesperson Trevor Dunnell.
“And we do not comment on pending litigation in court,” he wrote to Port City Daily in an email on Dec. 16.
In a public records request sent Dec. 16, Port City Daily asked the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office for access to all incident reports and search warrants pertaining to Operation Vapor Trail. The department did not have the info ready by press and Dunnell wrote to PCD in an email on Dec. 26 it was still being reviewed.
Officers went into shops undercover prior to the raids to purchase hemp and vape products, in an attempt to gain search warrants.
“ Their search warrants were often general warrants saying that they seized a truck of a hemp distributor and then tested the distributor’s product and found that the distributor’s product — or some of the distributor’s products — was hot,” Abraham Rubert-Schewel, the plaintiffs’ lawyer from Tin Fulton Walker & Owen PLLC, told PCD in an interview. “Because that product was allegedly hot, they used that as the basis to seize a lot of our client’s products.”
However, Rubert-Schewel explained while some products could have been tested from other shops and led to raids, the products at the plaintiffs’ stores weren’t tested prior to the search and seizure.
Thomas and Floyd are being accused of leading the April 3 raids, where they allegedly forced employees to turn off surveillance cameras, took money from registers and safes, and confiscated thousands of dollars of legal hemp products. The suit states that over $20,000 in products and $3,000 in cash were taken from Hubert Tobacco alone.
The lawsuit indicated officers were not wearing body cameras but were in full tactical gear, with guns drawn on April 3, 2024, when entering Hubert’s Tobacco and 53 Mini Mart.
“ They shut off their body cams, they shut off the cameras in the store, they took all the employees outside, and they did whatever they wanted,” Saleh recalled to PCD. “They’d only leave pennies in the drawer.”
After Alsaede and Saleh requested test results proving illegality of the inventory, two out of the 71 shops in Onslow County got some product back after finding it was under the legal limit, but Mini Mart 53 and Hubert’s Tobacco were not included. They never received test results for their products, either, according to Rubert-Schewel.
Alsaede and Saleh both claim, per the lawsuit, they were operating within the law. Their products were purchased from national wholesalers, which Rubert-Schewel advised Saleh not disclose. However, photos of the packaging included in the suit identify Gold Silver Cannabis and Not Ya Son’s Weed as two wholesalers — the latter located in Durham, and the former has a sitewide disclaimer indicating that all THC products they produce contain less than 0.3% THC.
“To charge someone with a crime related to possession of or distributing illegal substances, they have to know it’s an illegal substance or the police have to have probable cause to believe that our clients knew it was an illegal substance,” Rubert-Schewel said.
Saleh said he operates his businesses legally, and believes the products distributed at his stores were legal.
“If we got something from our wholesaler that’s illegal and we don’t know it’s illegal, just let us know,” Saleh said. “We’re willing to work it out.”
State law allows hemp products to be sold in North Carolina as long as they have under 0.3% delta-9 THC. Delta-9 is the most common form of THC, which causes psychoactive effects creating a “high” feeling. Anything above 0.3% THC is considered marijuana and is illegal.
Gold Silver Cannabis and Not Ya Son’s Weed both package their products with labels stating the percentage of THC and warnings to keep out of the hands of children. Certificates of Analysis that verify the product’s legality were also provided to Alsaede and Saleh upon purchase, according to the lawsuit.
In a letter sent to Floyd and Thomas on June 17, Rubert-Schewel requested the sheriff’s office test the product using liquid chromatography — one of two methods that test hemp for its THC level. Liquid chromatography dips hemp into a liquid solvent that can identify the product’s THC percentage without changing the hemp from its original state.
The Onslow County Sheriff’s Office uses gas chromatography, the lawsuit indicates, another method that lights the hemp on fire to test for THC levels. The gas method risks creating a chemical reaction that can raise THC levels, turning a legal product into an illegal one.
“Lt. Floyd stated that he did not believe that liquid chromatography testing was necessary or required because hemp products are typically only used when ignited,” Rubert-Schewel wrote in the letter to the deputies.
The sheriff’s office still has not provided evidence the products contained illegal amounts of hemp, according to the lawsuit.
On Nov. 8, the county officially brought charges against the shops and numerous arrest warrants went out for shop owners and distributors. The warrants led officers to Saleh’s home that morning, even though there was no warrant for his arrest.
(PCD’s public records request included information about the warrant that led the officers to Saleh’s address.)
Saleh recalled wearing only a towel when he opened his front door to find two officers knocking — one being Jimenez — and four cars outside. The officers put him in handcuffs outside and entered his home “without a warrant or consent,” the lawsuit said.
“ I’m not sure why they went to his home,” Rubert-Schewel said. “ What we do know is that when they went to his home, they handcuffed him, looked at their warrants — or looked at something — saw it wasn’t for him, and let him go.”
Saleh said the officers at first would not uncuff him so he could get dressed. When he asked for help, one officer responded: “Figure it out.” Eventually, the second officer intervened and got an “OK” from the first officer to uncuff one hand for Saleh to get dressed and provide ID.
“ They took me out to the living room, sat there for a little bit, like 30 minutes or so,” Saleh said. “Then he comes back and tells me he’s sorry and takes off my handcuffs — sorry for what? I don’t know.”
Charges were never brought against Saleh.
While Rubert-Schewel believes this to be a statewide targeting of hemp products, Saleh believes it could have racial motivations. He said all the 71 stores that were raided and charged were Arabic-owned.
The lawsuit denotes that Floyd told Rubert-Schewel in a June 7 phone call to the sheriff’s office was trying to “shut down” the shops and “run them out of town.” Floyd also said that all delta-8, delta-9, flower and pre-roll products being sold were “too close to the line.” Rubert-Schewel told PCD this is something that could be clarified at the legislative level, rather than through violent raids.
Once Thomas, Floyd, and Jimenez are served with the lawsuit, they will have 21 days to respond. They can file a motion for the court to dismiss the entire case before going to trial due to lack of evidence, wrong jurisdiction, or other reasons that may discredit the claims. Or the defendants can respond to the claims, explaining what they agree and disagree with, for the judge to review and rule on at a later court date.
Saleh said he wants to be respected and treated as a regular business man, without being judged on his skin color or where he comes from — “just to respect me as a human being.”
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