Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Law Enforcement Selling illegal products legality

The police are not required to arrest someone immediately after he makes the purchase in a sting operation. There are a number of reasons why police might choose to wait. For example, they may want to give the buyer time so they can follow him and see whether he leads them to other suspects. They may also want to see if he tries to sell the contraband, which would be a separate crime. They may hope he will refer some of his friends to the same "seller" so that they, too, can be arrested. Or they may simply be too busy that day and might prefer to arrest the suspect when they have more time. Regardless of the reason for the delay, the fact that the police wait before making the arrest does not invalidate the arrest or make their own actions illegal.

On the other hand, if the officers are not making these sales as part of an investigation but are instead trying to make some extra money illegally, they can be arrested charged. Such things have been known to happen, but not very often. Even then, their customers would have nothing to complain about - even if they end up getting caught by different officers.