HIGH POINT, N.C. — High Point Police said officers recently found these products inside various vape and tobacco stores.
To be clear, the THC that is being sold as Delta 8 and Delta 10 is legal. Police said the issue with these products are that they violate trademark laws and are marketed toward children.
High Point Police Chief, Travis Stroud, said it can be dangerous for children.
"For every parent out there, which I am a parent, you should be concerned, for every kid you should be concerned, for every school administrator you should be concerned, to every business owner who is employing people to do a job out there, you should be concerned because this is floating around and could be in your environment," Stroud said.
Stroud said it is hard to distinguish for parents and children what exactly they are getting into.
This operation was in partnership with the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State, the North Carolina Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force, the North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement Division and Homeland Security.
Police said that investigators checked several tobacco and vape stores for any trademark violations. Police said store owners and employees voluntarily surrendered more than 8,800 counterfeit products.
Those business were issued a warning. The total cost of the items that were surrendered was nearly 50,000 dollars.
Some of the products included were bongs, grinders, roach clips, vape cartridges and gummies. Several stores were also selling cans and bottles with hidden compartments, which police said are commonly used to hide narcotics.
Here's a look at some of the items surrendered:
High Point Police said that trademarked brands like Disney, Nintendo, Marvel, Frito-Lay, Kellogg’s, Mondelez (Oreo, Chips Ahoy and Sour Patch Kids), Coca-Cola, and even Girl Scouts of the USA.
"You would just assume they would have Doritos, when in fact it very well could be filled with the Delta 8, or THC product or some other drug that they could hide in it," said Lt. Kim Rieson, a High Point Police Officer in the Investigations Division.
Those companies did not give permission for their trademark to be used on the surrendered products and trademark laws are covered under NCGS 80-11.1.
Again, these business received a warning, but offenders can be charged with a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the value of the goods.
Store owners and employees also surrendered U-Pass and XStream Urine. These products violate NCGS 14.401.20, which defrauds drug and alcohol screening tests.
"The fact that they are using brand name logos, for an improper purpose, pick out any one of them, is a violation of the law," said Secretary of State, Elaine Marshall.
The North Carolina Anti-Counterfeit Trademark Task Force was established by Secretary of State in 2004 to train local law enforcement officers to spot counterfeit trademarked goods. They also help enhance multi-agency work in acting on trademark law enforcement.
The Task Force has grown to 172 officers, representing law enforcement agencies from across the state, including the High Point Police Department.
Since 2004, the Task Force has taken more than $190 million worth of counterfeit goods off the streets.