April 23, 2026
RICK PROCTOR/UNSPLASH.COM
Authorities in Ocean and Monmouth Counties have charged four people in connection with the sale of marijuana products out of vending machines at unlicensed locations in New Jersey. The state recently made changes to regulations surrounding hemp-derived THC products.
A Toms River man and three other people allegedly operated an illegal network of marijuana vending machines that were placed in 80 unlicensed businesses across the state, prosecutors in Ocean and Monmouth counties said.
Narcotics detectives spent more than two years investigating Ben Gross, 40, who allegedly owned the vending machine company Barbwire. The machines sold a variety of cannabis products ranging from marijuana flower and edibles to pre-rolled joints and vaping cartridges, according to investigators.
Recreational marijuana has been legal for people 21 and older in New Jersey since 2021, but it can only be sold at state-approved dispensaries that are licensed by the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission. Some alternative treatment centers that were already established as medical marijuana providers also are permitted to sell cannabis to the general public.
A few states, including Colorado and California, allow marijuana vending machines to be placed in licensed dispensaries. Their kiosks are tightly regulated and require age verification for customers who use them. New Jersey is not among the states that permit cannabis vending machines.
Authorities did not provide specifics on the types of cannabis products that were sold by Barbwire. The vending machines were seized only days after the state made a series of revisions to laws that distinguish marijuana and hemp-derived THC products.
The rules signed into law by Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) this month restrict the sale of hemp products – such as delta-8 and delta-10 THC – that are made intoxicating with chemically synthesized or converted cannabinoids. The updated law took effect April 13, reclassifying some products as cannabis instead of legal hemp and altering how and where they can be sold through November 2026.
Over the past 26 months, detectives from multiple law enforcement agencies conducted surveillance on Gross to determine how Barbwire operated. They traced his business to a warehouse in Manchester, Ocean County, where authorities executed a search warrant on April 17.
At the warehouse, investigators found three people who allegedly worked as packagers of the products sold in Barbwire's vending machines. Delma Canales-Garcia, 50, and Susana Garcia-Canales, 42, both of Lakewood, were taken into custody along with Carlos Sanchez-Castillo, 22, of Toms River, prosecutors said.
Search warrants were also executed at Gross's Toms River home and residences in Lakewood and Jackson Township.
Investigators seized more than 100 pounds of marijuana flower, hundreds of pounds of THC-infused candy, five pounds of hash and THC-infused vaping cartridges, prosecutors said. The vending machines were also seized during search warrants at the businesses renting space for them.
Barbwire earned between $17,000 and $20,000 per day on sales from its vending machines, authorities said at a detention hearing on Wednesday.
Investigators did not say how Barbwire obtained its vending machines. No charges have been filed against any of the unlicensed businesses that rented space for the machines. One social media post last year showed a Barbwire vending machine at a convenience store, but prosecutors did not disclose the locations of most of the machines.
“While recreational cannabis was legalized in New Jersey several years ago, clear-cut criminal penalties remain on the books for precisely this set of circumstances – because consumers in New Jersey deserve to know precisely what they are buying and from whom," Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said in a statement.
The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the legalities of cannabis vending machines in the state.
The charges also come as the U.S. Department of Justice moved Thursday to reschedule certain marijuana products to a less strict classification. The change in federal policy is part of a process that's expected to encompass a broader range of cannabis products.
Gross is charged with possession of 25 pounds or more of marijuana with intent to distribute, maintaining a controlled dangerous substance production facility, conspiracy to distribute 25 pounds or more of marijuana and related offenses.
Canales-Garcia, Garcia-Canales, and Sanchez-Castillo each were charged with possession of 25 pounds or more of marijuana with intent to distribute, conspiracy to distribute 25 or more of marijuana, possession of five pounds or more of hashish with intent to distribute, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
