Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine and Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina were joined by Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon, Jr., town supervisors and county officials to announce the results of a large-scale crackdown of illegal cannabis shops involving multiple jurisdictions throughout the region.
Forty-four businesses in the department’s seven precincts were targeted as part of the crackdown between May 20 and May 22. Of those, 26 businesses were found to be illegally selling items either labeled or packaged as a cannabis product.
Five businesses were closed by the towns due to multiple violations.
Eight people were arrested on various charges including seven people for Unlicensed Sale of Cannabis.
During this initiative, the department seized more than 15,000 flavored vape products and more than 15,000 THC products.
“Illegal cannabis shops create an unsafe environment for our residents, and especially our children,” Romaine said. “Thank you to all our law enforcement personnel and partners in government that have come together to send the message that is ‘you break the law, you will be shut down.’”
“This operation targets illegal marijuana sales during which individuals are taking advantage of selling with impunity,” Catalina said. “The cannabis is always unregulated and often sold to juveniles, creating a dangerous situation. We will continue to work with our partners and target problem locations and ones that are a source of community complaints.”