Four Tons Of Seized Cannabis Product Destroyed As More Than 1,000 Unlicensed Shops Shut Down

MAYOR ADAMS DESTROYS FOUR TONS OF SEIZED CANNABIS PRODUCT AS “OPERATION PADLOCK TO PROTECT” SHUTS DOWN MORE THAN 1,000 UNLICENSED SHOPS

Adams Administration Has Sealed Over 1,000 Illegal Locations, Seized an Estimated $63 Million in Illegal Products, Inspected 100 Percent of Shops Identified as Selling Illegal Cannabis  

Editor’s note: According to MJNews.com, “… the crackdown is threatened by an Aug. 14 judicial ruling in which a Queens County Supreme Court judge sided with a smoke shop’s argument that “summarily shuttering businesses prior to taking the necessary steps to determine whether a violation has occurred” violates basic due process rights.

The main legal claims of violations to due process involve the fact that the seized cannabis products, which are alleged to be in violation of the state’s marijuana laws, were never tested.  In this instance, it is regarding a single store in Queens where the owners insist that their products are ‘hemp,’ and don’t contain more  than the legal limit of THC.  Under state laws, there are specific rules regarding testing and labeling in order for them to be compliant: “‘The products were not tested to determine whether they are actually non-compliant,’ court records state, ‘and the Sheriff’s Officers did not review the third-party lab testing results contained in the Certificates of Analysis accompanying each and every product contained in the store.'”

We’ve reported on Operation Padlock to Protect multiple times in the past several months. 

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda, New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Edward A. Caban, and New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga destroyed more than four tons, or 576 bags, of seized, illegal cannabis products as inspectors of the New York City Sherriff’s Joint Compliance Task Force have shut down and sealed more than 1,000 illegal cannabis and smoke shops since the start of the city’s successful “Operation Padlock to Protect” nearly four months ago. Mayor Adams also announced that, as of [August 27th], the task force has conducted inspections of 100 percent of known shops identified as selling cannabis illegally and that were part of Operation Padlock to Protect’s initial list of illegal shops.

As a result of the operation’s rapid success, the city has seized more than $63 million in illegal product, which has been taking up an outsized amount of space across NYPD’s network of evidence warehouses. Mayor Adams joined members of the joint task force — made up of the Sheriff’s Office, the NYPD, and DCWP — to participate in NYPD’s standard evidence destruction process of incinerating illegal substances and products in an environmentally-responsible way. By-product from the incineration of seized evidence is then used as an energy source for the surrounding community.

“Illegal cannabis shops and their products endanger our young people and our quality of life, and that’s why we are padlocking dangerous storefronts and protecting our children, families, and communities from these illegal operators,” said Mayor Adams. “Thanks to the diligent work of the Sherriff’s Joint Compliance Task Force, we have now padlocked over 1,000 illegal shops and seized over $63 million in illegal products. Illegal cannabis nothing like legal cannabis, which is why these illegal products are being incinerated, so they can never return to New York City streets and endanger our youth again. Our successful efforts continue to keep our communities safe and create an environment where legal operators, who uphold public safety and realize the goals of social justice in the cannabis industry, are able to thrive. We are going to ensure that the future of legal cannabis burns bright in New York City.”

“We are grateful for Mayor Adams’ leadership and support with the organization of the Sheriff’s Joint Compliance Task Force and the implementation of ‘Operation Padlock to Protect,’” said Sheriff Miranda. “The Sheriff’s Office, along with our partners in the NYPD and DCWP, has been extremely successful in padlocking the illegal smoke shops that have plagued our city and targeted our youth. We still have some work to do, so we will continue to conduct our inspections to protect the health and safety of our city.”

“Cannabis operators running afoul of the law pose a public safety and health risk to our communities, and are destabilizing the emerging legal industry,” said NYPD Commissioner Caban. “The safe sale and distribution of legal cannabis in New York City can only be ensured by a properly licensed, regulated, and standardized industry. Therefore, the NYPD and our partners on the Sheriff’s Joint Task Force will continue to use every resource available to enforce these cannabis regulations and, most importantly, to protect New Yorkers.”

“We’re committed to supporting New Yorkers, and that begins with protecting their health and wellbeing,” said DCWP Commissioner Mayuga. “Illegal cannabis products pose a threat to our neighbors, especially our youngest New Yorkers, and I’m proud to join Mayor Adams and our fellow agencies in smoking out unlicensed businesses from our communities.”

Following Mayor Adams’ successful advocacy in Albany for municipalities to be given the regulatory authority by the state to finally shut down illegal cannabis and smoke shops plaguing city streets, New York City moved quickly to execute its legal authority, and accelerated its steady enforcement. With the newly granted local authority, the Adams administration has executed a five-borough strategy to finally end this public health and safety issue.

“Operation Padlock to Protect” systematically conducts joint operations — which include inspections and follow-up inspections — in neighborhoods across the five boroughs. When illegal stores are ordered to be sealed, officers from local NYPD precincts monitor those locations to ensure compliance and alert the Sheriff’s Office when violations of the seal order occur.

Record-high closures build on praise by New Yorkers, who join the administration in prioritizing decisive action against this public safety and quality of life nuisance. Operation Padlock to Protect is another example of the Adams administration’s efforts to double down on its commitment to swiftly shut down illegal operators, protect the city’s children, improve quality of life, and facilitate a safe and thriving legal cannabis market.

The legalization of cannabis is intended to create a new economy to emerge in New York state, while addressing the harmful impact of the “War on Drugs” on Black and Brown New Yorkers. For New York City’s new cannabis economy and justice-involved businesses to thrive, the city and state must protect the development of the legal market. To do so, the Adams administration launched Cannabis NYC, under the New York City Department of Small Business Services, to provide free resources and services for all New Yorkers interested in the cannabis industry. Cannabis NYC has already engaged over 5,000 New Yorkers on its five borough “Lift Off! Cannabis NYC” public education, listening, and outreach tour, and over 200 New Yorkers have participated in the FastTrac for Cannabis Entrepreneurs sessions, which connects legal cannabis business owners and entrepreneurs with free, high-quality training and advice delivered by leading voices in the legal cannabis industry.

“Illicit cannabis storefronts have plagued our communities and taken business away from hard-working legal retailers,” said New York State Governor Kathy Hochul. “That’s why I worked so hard to pass new laws that grant enforcement powers to expedite the closure of these shops. Since then, this partnership between the state and city has shut down more than 1,300 unlicensed stores statewide. This has allowed sales for legal dispensary owners to skyrocket and taken New York’s cannabis market into its next phase.”

“I was proud to mobilize New Yorkers across all 5 boroughs to pass the SMOKEOUT Act in the State budget, authorizing the City to shut down illegal smoke shops for good,” said New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar. “Mayor Adams, Sheriff Miranda, and Commissioner Caban immediately sprung into action with the spectacularly successful ‘Operation Padlock to Protect.’ We have already closed over 1,000 unlicensed cannabis shops and inspected all known shops in a matter of weeks. That is 1,000 fewer shops attracting armed robberies and selling to children; more than four tons of unregulated cannabis off our streets; and tens of millions of dollars in more tax revenue to invest in communities. This demonstrates what we can achieve when all levels of government come together to address the issues facing New Yorkers.”

“Today’s actions represent a significant win for New Yorkers, whether on Long Island or in New York City,” said State Assemblymember Michaelle C. Solages. “By cracking down on illegal cannabis sales, we are not only protecting our communities from harmful products but also supporting the integrity of our legal market. I commend Mayor Adams and his administration for their unwavering commitment to safeguarding the well-being of all New Yorkers. Together, we are ensuring that our neighborhoods remain safe and that the legal cannabis industry can thrive under fair and responsible regulations.”

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“Illegal cannabis shops are a blight on our communities and are antithetical to the work of building a legal, regulated cannabis economy that centers social justice and fairness. Continuing to weed out these shops and their potentially harmful products could not be more critical to that effort,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. “There must be no place for illegal cannabis operators in the World’s Borough or anywhere else in our city.”

“The sale of illegal, unregulated cannabis not only threatens public safety, but it also undermines legitimate businesses before they even have a chance to open. My office has been steadfast in our efforts to stop these sales by initiating eviction proceedings against illegal vendors and by shutting down mobile dispensaries that are often parked near schools, with product clearly marketed toward our children,” said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. “I thank Mayor Adams, the NYPD, and the New York City Sheriff for their leadership in seizing untested, unregulated cannabis and shutting down illegal vendors to protect public health and safety.”

TRANSCRIPT: MAYOR ADAMS DESTROYS FOUR TONS OF SEIZED CANNABIS PRODUCT AS “OPERATION PADLOCK TO PROTECT” SHUTS DOWN MORE THAN 1,000 UNLICENSED SHOPS

Sheriff Anthony Miranda: Good morning everyone. I’m glad to, Sheriff Anthony Miranda from New York City Sheriff’s Office. I’m glad to be here today to welcome you all here as we join with Reworld Waste. They are our partners in the destruction of illegal drugs that is confiscated throughout the city from all law enforcement agencies, and we’re glad to be here today. This is also an announcement about the efforts that have been made.

As the mayor’s mandate that gave the Sheriff’s Office the ability to do the enforcement against these illegal cannabis shops which are plaguing our community. It was the mayor’s insight that said that all the law enforcement agencies were working collectively, and this has been a collective effort between the Sheriff’s Office, the New York City Police Department, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and the other agencies that have assisted us. 

Today we’re here to announce the destruction of the weed that was confiscated during the Padlock to Protect program, and this is part of what people have asked us to continue. What happens after the inspections? This is what happens after the inspections in the normal process of destruction, and we’re glad to be here to be able to share this moment with you. On that note, I want to turn it over to the mayor who has fought for us to have this right, to be able to do the inspections, and to make sure that we’re responding to the complaints of our communities. So thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Thanks so much, sheriff, and I always like to make sure we have Lieutenant Rosa, who’s here, see her out of all times of the evening, oversighting and looking at the products that we are seizing in some of the most dangerous environments. You know, the sheriff, with the right team, it’s important to highlight the work that’s being done. This is what it is about, you know. You actually stand here and you can smell the cannabis that’s here.

What we have accomplished is exactly what we knew we could accomplish with the right insight and the right focus and determination. A thousand shops were closed, and you had to use the skill set of the accumulation of all of our agencies, as the sheriff just mentioned, to make sure we can focus in on that. Today, we’re going to destroy four tons of cannabis. This is out of the 200,000 tons that we have that are still out there, 200,000 pounds that we have that are still out there that we are going to put on the roadmap to being destroyed as well. 

Reworld is a real partner. I want to thank them. And in addition to just removing the illegal cannabis, they remove over 800,000 tons of garbage off our landfills by destroying it here. This prevents our landfills from being filled, but it also prevents illegal cannabis from going to our landfills. That’s why this partnership is so, so important. When you look at the list that we had, we had a substantial number of locations and sites. We’ve inspected 100 percent of those locations and sites. Now, it’s continuing inspections. We have to stay on top of this because there are so many people who would like to participate in this illegal endeavor. But we are focused on this. 

I really got to give my kudos to the governor, her partnership in ensuring and giving us the authority we needed to bring in our other agencies, particularly the New York City Police Department and Speaker Heastie and Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and the work of Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar with her SMOKEOUT Act. It was so important. You saw the intersectionality of all of these different entities focusing on a problem that people thought we’re not, we could not get our hands around. But yes, we got our hands around it. And because we got our hands around it, we’re going to destroy illegal cannabis in the city. 

It’s not going to go in our neighborhoods. It’s not going to target our children. When we look at some of these items that are here, clearly focus. Clearly focus on our children’s Sour Patch. We continually lift up these products because we want to constantly remind people that there are no barriers or boundaries that those who are selling these illegal products would do to attract our young people, particularly the colorful packaging. We’ve witnessed the distribution location. We witnessed people are packaging their own products, products that are laced with different items. This is why we have spent so much attention on this. 

I just really want to take my hat off to the sheriff and his entire team as we move forward in addressing these real quality of life issues, robberies, shootings, illegal products, going after those legal shops that are unable to make the profits that they deserve, that they are following the rules. This is how we clamp down on it. We’re going to be excited to burn this illegal product here today. Thank you very much, Sheriff and your team.

Sheriff Miranda: I take the opportunity to introduce you now to the Reworld’s president, Adel Omrani.

Adel Omrani: Thank you very much and welcome, everybody. And thank you, mayor, for being here. I don’t want to forget everybody. So I’m going to call in also the deputy mayor, Philip, for being here, as well as Deputy Mayor Fabien Levy and Sheriff Miranda, as well as the assistant commissioner, Nieves, and the deputy chief, as well as lieutenant. 

We’re really honored and happy to have you here and to contribute to this critical effort of taking drugs off of our street. Here in our facility, for 30 years, we’ve been partnering with the Long Island community. This facility is run by Bobby Green, our facility manager. He’s a native Long Islander, and he’s been here for 30 years. He’s one of our most and foremost experts, actually, in this technology. And, you know, in Hampstead, we process about a million tons. So, mayor, we have space, you know, not only this four tons. Anything, you know, to contribute to the safety of our communities, we’re more than happy to contribute. 

And actually, diverting this from landfill makes it so that we, two and a half million tons of greenhouse gasses are averted and diverted because they don’t go to landfills. And as a company, actually, we do 41 million tons of greenhouse gasses that’s avoided. That’s the equivalent, just from this facility, that’s the equivalent of taking 500,000 cars off the streets. And we’re, you know, we’re very, very happy to obviously contribute to the community. As once we burn this waste or any of the other wastes, actually, we generate also renewable energy that powers our communities and our residency. With that, thank you again, mayor. And thanks, everybody. And I would love to take you into the store.

Sheriff Miranda: I’m going to turn it back over to the mayor for any questions.

Mayor Adams: What’s happening?

Question: This might sound like a dumb question, but why incinerate the stuff rather than doing something else with it and sending it to a landfill?

Mayor Adams: No, no, that’s not a dumb question. That’s actually a smart question. The goal is we don’t want to recycle back into the communities. You place it in a landfill, you just really open the door of people going to the landfills and trying to salvage whatever they can. The goal is the destruction of the product, and not to just dump it somewhere and allow it to sit around. It just really opens an opportunity for people to go in. If it’s in a plastic bag, or even if it’s not, you will find those extremely creative entrepreneurs that will attempt to take back what we took off the streets.

Question: There’s a lot of jokes in our newsroom yesterday about the fumes that we’re going to get today from these cannabis being incinerated. How does that work? Is that not like waft out into the community?

Mayor Adams: I like that. No one would be getting high off of what we’re burning today. Trust me. You want to talk about the filtering process or whomever on what prevents the smoke?

Bobby Green: The process as we combust this cannabis today, we have a lot of filtration systems on the back half of the boiler that allow us to scrub all of that material, to scrub all those fumes, so that what actually exits out of our stack is about 99.9 percent water vapor and normal constituents that you would find in normal air that we’re breathing right now. All of the smells and fumes are contained within the process. They are destroyed in the process so that it doesn’t affect the community that we surround and that we are with. Thank you.

Question: [Inaudible.]

Mayor Adams: All of it will be destroyed. All of it will be destroyed. I think the large amount will be here. But every part of it, we’re not going to place this in landfills. And whatever modern day methods that people are coming with in some of the other municipalities, we’re going to look for. We’re always spanning the globe on how to do things differently. We know that this facility is willing to assist us in the destruction of the product and whatever other methods we can come up with, we’re going to follow.

Question: You’re going to be operating a device. Can you talk about that and what you’re looking forward to as the person who is physically able to destroy this in the advanced system?

Mayor Adams: Well, I don’t think that you don’t have to search hard for every young man that has ever grown up anywhere. They’ve been looking forward to the day to operate one of these pieces of machinery. So I am eager to finish these on-topic questions so I can live out my childhood dream of picking up and destruction. What young man don’t want to do that? You know, I’m going to do work, but I’m going to have fun. 

Question: [Inaudible.]

Mayor Adams: Well, I think that we’re four months in and out of the four months we were able to inspect a thousand locations, and we’re getting our sea legs. We’re learning all the procedures because there’s a lot of layers to this, you know, dealing with the oath hearings, whatever court rulers are put in place. We have to constantly refine our product to make sure that we outsmart those who are attempting to outsmart us. But when you look at what the sheriff, what he and his team, what they have accomplished, a thousand locations, we’ve completed the list. We’re going to continue to go back and do a constant inspection because we look at the products. This is a money making illegal operation that we have to stay on top of. 

Question: [Inaudible.]

Mayor Adams: No, I think that to those who say they’d rather go to the illegal stores, you could pay the financial tax or you could pay the physical tax. The physical tax is these illegal products. They’re laced. They’re dangerous. You don’t know what you’re getting. And if you want to be a person that you could pay now, pay later. The reason the taxes are there is because there are regulations that are there and we want to make sure that is done correctly in the process. 

So go into legal places to get any form of item like this. There’s a reason for that. And we would encourage people not to patronize the illegal operations. Fabien just advised me, also, we’ve inspected over 4,000 locations. We’ve closed a thousand, but over 4,000. That’s an amazing accomplishment. We started out the, when we went to Albany, we had 3,000. But listen, these shops are opening and we have to stay on top of them. But 4,000 inspections, 1,000 closures.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor. So what is this weed laced with? Because the last time you guys held a press conference, Governor Kathy Hochul said it was laced with fentanyl. But cannabis regulators said that wasn’t true. And second question, is any of this tied up in legal cases? Is this like kind of burning evidence a little bit?

Mayor Adams: Yeah, it’s laced with all sorts of things. When you look at some of the mushrooms, you know, it’s laced with different items. One thing we know is that it is not going through the rigorous process of ensuring the authenticity of cannabis. That is the problem. People don’t know what they’re smoking, what they’re inhaling and what they put, what they’re putting in their bodies. 

Question: Is any of this tied up in legal cases? Is this like burning evidence?

Mayor Adams: I like that. The Law Department had to answer that. All I do is burn. So, you know, the Law Department is going to answer. I don’t believe so. I think that this product has gone through. Oh, we got somebody from …  Come on up here, man. Do your thing. This is your moment.

Deputy Chief Marlon Larin, Commanding Officer of the Support Services Division, Police Department: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good day. So all of these items here, they have exceeded the retention period. So none of these are being held up in court for any reason. We have guidelines that we follow. So once that’s exceeded, someone can make a claim to get their property returned to them. But the court ultimately decides. But we make sure that we vet that first.

Mayor Adams: Good. Let’s do it. 

Sheriff Miranda: And just for a point of clarity, what do they spray with? They’re spraying it with different chemicals. Even some locations have used roach spray or different other things. Right. So people are not smoking cannabis when they’re getting sick by this. What they are smoking is the chemicals. And that is the statement. We want to make sure this is why it presents a serious health hazard.

Question: 4,000 have been inspected. 1,000 have been closed. What about the 3,000 that haven’t been closed yet? Like, what didn’t stop you from closing them down?

Sheriff Miranda: 3,600 locations have been reported. We have conducted over 4,000 inspections, sometimes re-inspections of locations. We have been able to seal 1,000 locations. Over 1,000 locations have been sealed. And we will be required to go back to some of these locations and have them re-inspected. We have received cease and desist orders, which require a second visit. So there are ongoing investigations, and we will be visiting some of them a couple of times.

Banner Image: New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda destroyes more than four tons, or 576 bags, of seized, illegal cannabis products as inspectors of the New York City Sherriff’s Joint Compliance Task Force have shut down and sealed more than 1,000 illegal cannabis and smoke shops since the start of the city’s successful “Operation Padlock to Protect” nearly four months ago. Mayor Adams also today announced that, as of yesterday, the task force has conducted inspections of 100 percent of known shops identified as selling cannabis illegally and that was part of Operation Padlock to Protect’s initial list of illegal shops, at Long Island incinerator on Wednesday, August 28, 2024. Image Credit – Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

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