BD Store Owner Charged With THC Violations, Arrested | News

OXFORD, Miss. – Two Oxford business owners are in trouble with the law as they are both accused of selling products that exceed the legal limit for THC. FOX13 spoke with one of the owners who told us their products are legal.

Antonio Barragan runs a CBD shop and medical cannabis dispensary in Oxford. He says law enforcement conducted an undercover operation to test his products. These products reportedly exceeded the legal limit, but Barragan says he is not to blame.

“As soon as I walked into the pharmacy, they handcuffed me and told me I was under arrest.”

Barragan was taken into custody on Monday for violations of the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act. He says his store was raided by police and he was accused of selling products that violate the law.

“The investigation took a year and a half and they had a search warrant for my business and my home,” Barragan explained. “They bought products from my store four times and sent them for testing.”

In Mississippi, THCA is only legal if the THC content is below a threshold of 0.3%. Barragan says his product labels list 0.3%, but law enforcement told them that when his products were tested as part of the investigation, the product was found to be above the legal limit.

Barragan told FOX13 he believes he followed proper protocols. He says outside temperatures can often impact the product during shipping, altering the THC content and causing THC levels to rise.

“These products can be shipped legally so we can sell them. “So we do our due diligence by checking whether the testing facilities have actually tested the specific product of the company we want to buy it from, and that’s all we can do.”

Barragan's arrest warrant shows he is charged with conspiracy to commit a felony, sale of medical cannabis and manufacture and sale of a controlled substance.

“I think they're trying to prove something. I think they want THCA from the city, from the community.”

Barragan told us that he has been working with and trusting his manufacturers for seven years.

In a statement to FOX13 from the Mississippi Alcoholic Beverage Control Bureau of Enforcement – the lead agency in the investigation – multiple arrest warrants have been issued in Lafayette County as a result of the investigation. Below is the agency's full statement to FOX13: