Homegrown Bar & Grill sues Virgin Islands government over 2025 hemp seizure

February 19, 2026. Homegrown Bar & Grill, LLC, the Virgin Islands limited liability company operating Little Amsterdam Coffee & Cannabis Lounge at 10 Dronningens Gade on Main Street in St. Thomas, filed a federal complaint in the District Court of the Virgin Islands against the Government of the Virgin Islands, the Commissioners of the Department of Health and the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs, and the Office of Cannabis Regulation. The complaint raises four separate federal claims: the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause, the Fourth Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Homegrown seeks declaratory and injunctive relief plus just compensation for the inventory already seized.

The April 29, 2025 raid

Per the complaint, on April 29, 2025 agents from the Virgin Islands Department of Health, the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs, the Office of Cannabis Regulation, and the Virgin Islands Police Department entered Homegrown’s Main Street premises without a warrant and without advance notice. They seized hemp-derived products from both the retail floor and the storage areas, removing what the complaint describes as a “significant portion” of active retail inventory. The total seized was approximately $18,000 at wholesale value.

Attorney Robert Leycock, counsel for Homegrown, told the Virgin Islands Consortium that the business “did not grow these products illegally. He did not import them in violation of any law.” Proprietor Raheem Smith said: “They walked into our store and took our legal merchandise without a warrant and without paying us a dime.”

The complaint points out that Act 9072, the only Virgin Islands statute that could arguably have authorized the seizure, was not signed into law until January 23, 2026, nearly nine months after the raid. No statutory basis existed on the day of the seizure.

Four federal claims, not one

The media shorthand for this case has been “Takings Clause,” but the complaint rests on a broader federal foundation. The Fifth Amendment Takings Clause prohibits the government from taking private property for public use without just compensation, and Homegrown argues that Act 9072 Section 3’s uncompensated surrender requirement fails that test as applied to inventory acquired before the Act existed. The Fourth Amendment claim addresses the warrantless search and seizure of inventory from both the retail floor and storage on April 29, 2025. The Fourteenth Amendment claim runs parallel to the Fifth Amendment Takings Clause via incorporation and adds due process. The 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim is the civil rights mechanism that allows Homegrown to sue the individual officials responsible for the seizure for damages.

Leycock framed the broader stake in sharp terms in an interview with the Virgin Islands Daily News: “No business in this Territory can rely on its license” if such property seizures without compensation are permitted. “The Government may regulate hemp products going forward, but it cannot confiscate existing inventory and destroy it without paying for it.”

What else is at risk

Per the complaint, Homegrown holds additional intoxicating hemp inventory valued at a minimum of $60,000 that would be subject to the Act 9072 Section 3 surrender requirement if the statute is enforced as written. The company is seeking a declaration that the surrender provision is unconstitutional, return of the product already seized, or fair market value compensation.

What to watch

The complaint was the first constitutional challenge filed against Act 9072 in federal court. Six days later, Chief Judge Robert Molloy granted a Temporary Restraining Order blocking enforcement of the Section 3 surrender provision against Homegrown “or any other licensed hemp retailer.” The preliminary injunction hearing, originally set for March 11, 2026, was rescheduled to April 1, 2026 at the Government of the Virgin Islands’ request. The outcome of the April 1 hearing has not been reported publicly as of the most recent update to this article. The CBD legality guide tracks the constitutional litigation and the Office of Cannabis Regulation’s April 23 rulemaking deadline.