Federal Raid Closes City's Last Pot Shop

Lake Forest's last remaining marijuana dispensary is shut after a sudden raid Friday by a Drug Enforcement Agency task force.

It's the last in a string of nearly 40 such shops that have been shuttered since the city began making a concerted effort to drive them out of town about two years ago. 

Hundreds of thousands of dollars later, —and action—proved the key in pushing the pot stores outside the city limits.

Authorities say that federal agents arrested two Charles Café employees at the Lake Forest Drive establishment Friday afternoon, which is known to police as a vendor of pot-infused edibles.

A third person working at the dispensary at the time of the raid said she was a "volunteer" and was not arrested, according to sheriff's Sgt. Roger Dawes.

Dawes said a "handful" of customers were in the shop at the time of the raid.

None were arrested, he said.

Evidence collected at the raid included edibles and marijuana, Dawes said.

The evidence is expected to engender additional DEA search warrants, although not in Lake Forest, he said.

In early October, city officials received word that Lake Forest's efforts to shut down operating dispensaries would get help from the federal government.

While the assistance came as part of a , it also was the hoped-for answer to a May plea for help from Lake Forest City Attorney Scott Smith to U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr.