Six people were recently arrested for the illegal selling of flavored vapes and selling vape products to minors over a two-day period.
On May 13 as part of “Operation Smoke Out,” Second Precinct Crime Section officers conducted an investigation into eleven smoke shops during which employees sold flavored vape products to an underage person at five of the businesses.
All five individuals were issued Field Appearance Tickets and are scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on a later date.
The following were arrested and charged with unlawfully dealing with a child in the second degree and public health law sale of flavored vape products:
- Ryan Lembeck, 29, of Huntington, an employee of Huntington Village Vapes, located at 4 Elm St. in Huntington
- Kush Patel, 22, of Floral Park, an employee of E Smoke & Cigar, located at 312 Main St. in Huntington
- Magdy Alameri, 19, of New York Mills, NY, an employee of Cloud Smoke & Cigar Convenience, located at 116 East 11th Street in Huntington Station •
- Kasat Karaarslan, 52, of Port Jefferson Station, an employee of Xtra Fuels, located at 201 Depot Road, in Huntington Station
- Sayanam Ghimire, 37, of Elmhurst, NY, an employee of New Paradise Convenience, located at 2024 New York Ave. in Huntington Station
The day before, on May 12, Suffolk County Police responded to community complaints and checked seven smoke shops for age compliance. One store, Smiley Convenience Smoke Shop, 191 Middle Country Road, Coram, was not in compliance.
Police arrested Muhammad Sherwani, 40, of Selden, for selling flavored vapes to a person under the age of 21. Sherwani was issued a Field Appearance Ticket and is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on a later date.Police also confiscated a large quantity of flavored product from the store.