by Larry Janezich
Posted April 14, 2026
This it 539 8th Street, SE. Tobacco King is the tobocca store on the ground level. Aloha, the weed shop part of the operation, is upstairs.
ANC6B Will ask City to Consider Closing Barracks Row Weed Shop
Last night, ANC6B’s Alcohol Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA) Committee chaired by Commissioner Karen Hughes, that the committee voted to recommended the full ANC send a letter asking ABCA to “take decisive and immediate action to protect the public by investigating Tobacco King and consider revoking their medical cannabis license.” The the letter will be copied to the Mayor, the Attorney General and to the members of the Council. The medical weed dispensary is located upstairs at 539 8th Street, SE, the former location of La Vagna restaurant.
In a release dated March 25, 2026, Fairfax County Police said that on March 18, a coordinated local, state and federal law enforcement effort served search warrants on multiple buildings, storage facilities, and residences associated with Tobacco King vape shops in Fairfax County. Three family members – Omar Salim, 65, Saleh Salim, 36, and Saed Salim, 39. All were charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering and all were later released on a $50,000 bond.
For more info, go here: https://fcpdnews.wordpress.com/2026/03/25/drug-trafficking-organization-dismantled-in-massive-multi-location-operation/
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 
Last December, ANC 6B voted–foolishly–to endorse Tobacco King’s application for a license to sell cannabis next door to the family-oriented Miracle Theater, & behind a Montessori school. At that time, I warned that we could not trust the appplicant, & reminded the commissioners that Tobacco King’s staff had already been arrested, twice, at other Tobacco King outlets in DC. The ANC was deluded into thinking Tobacco King’s promises, in exchange for our support, were worth it. Those promises included (no kidding) a promise to have a staff person help customers buy cannabis. (The other “promises” were equally useless in protrcting the neighborhood. I doubt any commissioner who voted to support the application even read that list of promises.) It’s time for the ANC to admit it made a mistake.
ANC was fooled by a sleek lawyer into believing that their client was a legitimate business interested in the community while it was a drug trafficking and money laundry operation trying to legitimize itself in DC. They even tried to hide their name. So many neighbors and business voiced their opposition to no avail. I hope DC law enforcement is cooperating with agencies involved in the operation in VA. Not just a weed shop upstairs, the entire operations should be closed down.