NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The New York City Sheriff’s Office shut down an illegal smoke shop in the East Village on Friday and seized 100 pounds of cannabis products as part of the city’s “Padlock to Protect” program.
An inspection at 279 East 10th St. was prompted by 311 complaints from the community, and upon searching the location, law enforcement officials discovered 43 pounds of THC flowers and pre-rolls, 30 pounds of THC vapes and 27 pounds of THC edibles.
In a social media post announcing the bust, the sheriff’s office wrote that it wants “to thank the community for being our eyes and ears for illegal activity throughout the five boroughs!”
“This shop was issued the notices of violation. It was issued a cease and desist order and the location was sealed,” Sheriff Anthony Miranda told 1010 WINS. “Should tell you that this is directly across the street from a church, on the corner is a park that is used by most community residents here.”
The location is also about a block away from a public school, Miranda said.
Since the city’s Padlock to Protect program began, Miranda said that close to 5,000 addresses have been reported to the sheriff’s office, and inspections have been conducted at most, if not all of them.
“These unlicensed and unregulated cannabis products endanger the health and safety of community residents,” he said. “They are being packaged and sold to underage children. And even for the adult population, they present a certain danger, because the products have not been tested and quite often they are mixed with other things that endanger the health and safety of even the adults that want to use the product.”
Among the products seized from the East Village location were gummy products with fruity flavors and “Wonka” branded bars. These types of flavors and packaging contribute to concerns among the public that illegal sellers are targeting children.
“Most of the time that we find is that these cannabis products are mixed with chemicals. So people are not truly smoking or inhaling the cannabis, what they are doing is smoking, inhaling all the chemical products that are being added,” Miranda said. “This [presents] an extra safety and health hazard to the community.”
The sheriff also noted that when closing down illegal smoke shops, the Joint Compliance Task Force in charge of the investigations quite often recovers weapons and other drugs.
“They’re now becoming the outlets for other illegal products,” he said. “And that’s why it’s necessary to continue the inspections and continue to respond to the community’s complaints.”
In addition to the dangers that authorities say illegal cannabis shops pose to the public, they also lead to a loss in tax revenue that is gained from legal dispensaries, and that labor standards in the establishments may not be met. Miranda said that his office will report the shops to the Department of Labor to ensure that workers are being properly compensated and documented.
“We are covering all the bases to ensure that everybody's rights are protected,” he said.
The city's Padlock to Protect program has sealed nearly 1,300 illegal cannabis shops and seized over $86 million in illegal products.
RoseAnne Cox-Peralta contributed to this report.