Authorities recently raided a major CBD contract manufacturing company in Iasi, Romania, in what the company described as an “absurd and disproportionate measure.”
CanX CBD was raided by local police on September 19th, with all employees arrested and all products confiscated, with local media reporting what they described as an organized crackdown on an “organized criminal group.” I drew it.
The company's CEO, Philip Furman, who remains under “house arrest” after spending 55 days in preventive detention/prison, told Business of Cannabis: It's on the board. ”
Despite all efforts to operate legally and confirmation from the Romanian Ministry of Health that HHC is legal and not subject to state control, the business is currently under threat due to ongoing legal disputes. has been effectively put on hold.
CanX CBD
Founded in 2019, CanX CBD operates one of the largest GMP certified extraction facilities in Europe, specializing in the cultivation and wholesale manufacturing of white label bulk CBD distillates and isolates for the global CBD market. .
Our 33,000 square foot facility in Miroslava is GMP, HACCP, ISO22000 and KOSHER certified.
Fuhrman said that as a contract manufacturer, the company is always driven by consumer demand and started receiving requests to produce Delta 8 in 2021, but as a result, the company was unable to produce D8, a derivative of THC. He said he refused after learning that it was not allowed in Romania. .
However, when the desire to produce products using HHC (CBD derivatives) began to materialize in 2022, the company received positive indications from the Romanian authorities and after successfully registering the product in the TPD European database. Added HHC electronic cigarette products to the production line.
During this period, the company collaborated with a number of law and regulatory agencies, including the ANA (National Narcotics Control Agency), the Ministry of Health, the BCCO (Combat Organized Crime Brigade), and the DIICOT (Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism). ), ANAF (National Fiscal Agency) is working to ensure that the production of HHC is legal on Romanian territory.
Business of Cannabis has contacted many of these organizations regarding this raid but has not received a response at the time of writing.
Importantly, in a response from the Ministry of Health seen by Business of Cannabis in May 2023, CanX was informed in writing that HHC is “not a controlled substance” in Romanian territory and is not subject to state control. is.
“We assumed that these interactions would maintain open communication channels and foster mutual understanding, but we were clearly wrong,” Furman said.
The Raid
On September 19, “two minutes” after employees arrived at the CanX facility, a group of armed special forces stormed the facility. Mr. Furman, who is not named in the investigation file and happened to be present at the time of the attack, voluntarily went to the DIICOT office with officials to resolve the situation and submitted all relevant licenses and correspondence. . Romanian Government – He was subsequently detained along with seven staff members.
The raid was one of more than 100 raids carried out across the country that day by DIICOT and the Iasi Organized Crime Squad as part of a larger operation, in which 28 people were arrested and the company's stock was stolen. Tens of thousands of items including laptops, laptops and electronic equipment were seized. mobile phone.
Local media suggested that police seized 81,102 e-cigarettes, 3,237 lollipops, 1,316 jelly boxes and bags, 169 cake boxes and jars, 169 cannabis seeds and 3,692 containers of various sizes. . 299,333 lei, 29,225 euros and $9,200 were also found and seized. At the same time, 65 phones, 23 laptops, 5 kilograms of silver in the form of 5 ingots, silver coins, 2 cannabis plants, 400 boxes, grills, envelopes, jars with vegetable matter, about 74.2 liters of liquid substance 8 buckets containing. , 14 boxes of defective vaporizers weighing approximately 149 kilograms, across a network of stores and distributors not affiliated with or owned by CanX CBD.
Video source: https://www.vrmeanoua.ro/
Video footage of the raid, along with images of confiscated products and equipment inside the facility, was published almost immediately by local media organizations, who dubbed the scene a “dream factory” and linked the raid to a major criminal network. It was praised as a systematic destruction of Japan. .
“They detained us for 24 hours and then we went before the first judge. First of all, he fired us because he had no documented relationship with the authorities. It was clear from all the communications and registrations that the company was making every possible effort to comply with the law.”
But after seven days of so-called judicial control, prosecutors intervened and the Court of Appeal remanded the eight CanX staff to “preventive detention”, where they spent the next 54 days.
Many of the allegations faced by CanX, which were widely reported in local media, revolved around the fact that these apparently edible products and supposedly “potentially lethal” substances were being made readily available to minors. was related to.
As Fuhrman points out, CanX does not have the ability to manufacture edible products and does not sell products directly to consumers, especially minors.
The two main charges against the company are “establishing an organized criminal group” and carrying out operations using products that “may have psychoactive effects”.
Furthermore, regarding the legality of HHC, prosecutors point out that HHC is included in the EMCDDA's early warning system, as Business of Cannabis reported in January of this year.
EWS is managed by ANA in Romania via the Ritox network and no communication or public statement to the contrary has been made regarding HHC, and on March 17, 2023, ANA officially announced that HHC is legal in Romania. Announced on.
CanX CBD has registered complaints against both the Romanian Ministry of Health and the ANA regarding governance and lack of communication with the European Commission.
According to a legal opinion obtained by Mr. Furman from a lawyer credited with co-authoring the Romanian Criminal Code, none of these claims is of much weight, especially given its vague nature.
“A letter or notice of concern would have been sufficient for us to address this, discuss the issue with the authorities and take appropriate action. We expected the government to contact us if there were concerns. “But I didn't expect them to raid the facility and take me to prison.”
Eight of the company's staff remain under house arrest, meaning they cannot contact each other or leave their homes for at least another 30 days. As of this writing, the investigation is still ongoing and no charges have been filed.
