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SALT LAKE CITY — Two people were arrested Friday after police say they traveled from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City to sell marijuana products at an event called “Taco Sesh.”
Justin Rashad Marion, 23, and Medina Selimovic, 22, were arrested for investigation of multiple counts of drug-related charges.
Police say it’s not the first time the couple has been in Utah hosting a marijuana-themed event. Both also had warrants out for their arrests for similar incidents in 2019 and 2018.
Their latest arrests happened early Friday when detectives from the Metro Gang Unit developed information that the two were traveling to Utah from Las Vegas “to host an ‘event’ referred to as Taco Sesh. Both Marion and Selimovic made numerous posts on their individual social media accounts promoting the event in addition to advertising the ‘menu’ consisting of THC products, including raw marijuana, THC cartridges, cannabis infused edibles and psilocybin mushrooms that were going to be available at the event,” according to a police booking affidavit.
Officers with the gang unit and the U.S. Marshal’s Violent Fugitive Apprehension Team developed information about where the event was to take place and secured a search warrant.
Selimovic was spotted getting out of a car as officers arrived and was taken into custody. Once police announced their presence, “multiple individuals were observed fleeing from the house, including Justin Marion who was observed by detectives exiting the house and jumping a wooden fence,” the affidavit states.
A police K-9 was used to track Marion who was found hiding in a trash can, police say.
Inside the house where the event was taking place, investigators seized “approximately 6 pounds of raw marijuana, 1 pound of psilocybin mushrooms, approximately 150 THC cartridges, 100 grams of THC resin and 100 packages of cannabis infused edibles of various strengths,” the affidavit states.
Both Marion and Selemovic were charged in November in 3rd District Court with drug distribution after police discovered a similar operation in the south end of Salt Lake County. At that time, Marion told police “he was upset that he was arrested for selling marijuana because he helps people with medical conditions. Marion also said that he will get more product and continue to sell marijuana when he gets out of jail,” according to charging documents.
At the time of that arrest in July, police say Marion also had a warrant out for his arrest in Arizona. Formal charges were filed in Salt Lake City in November, and arrest warrants were issued for both Marion and Selemovic. Those warrants were still active at the time of Friday’s arrest.
Marion and Selemovic were also key figures in a similar marijuana bust in 2018 at Beaver Mountain Lodge on April 20. They were both charged with drug distribution and also had warrants out for their arrests for that case, according to court records.
