Another night, another illicit cannabis operation busted. This one, in Bellerose, Queens.
“This is extremely dangerous,” New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda said. “They were actually cooking and packaging inside.
More than 1,000 illegal cannabis shops out of an estimated 3,600 were closed since the city’s “Operation Padlock to Protect” launched in May — about 90 stores a week on average.
At that rate, law enforcement will still be making busts through July of next year — assuming no new stores open, according to a recent City Council report.
“That’s good news and people see it in the neighborhood,” Councilmember Gale Brewer said.
Councilwoman Brewer of the Upper West Side chairs the oversight and investigations committee, and recently led a hearing on cannabis enforcement.
She said lawmakers want more data from the Sherrif’s office about enforcement and staffing.
“People want them closed sooner than July 25,” Brewer said.
Mayor Eric Adams launched “Operation Padlock” after New York State empowered local law enforcement to close illegal cannabis shops faster.
The City Council had also passed laws to try to make it harder to flagrantly operate illegal dispensaries, like going after landlords of buildings where these shops operate.
“I believe this law has not been enforced,” Brewer said. “Landlords are far more likely to pay the fines than, as you suggest, illegal business operators who disappear.”
“For the most part, we have found that landlords have been very cooperative once they’re notified,” Miranda said.
Councilmembers are considering laws to make the Sherrif’s office report more enforcement data and have 311 create a category to report unlicensed cannabis retailers — both of which Miranda opposes.
Of the 1,152 locations that had been sealed, about 875 are still shuttered, Miranda testified.
“Are you shutting down less shops daily than you were a month or two ago?’ City Councilmember Justin Brannan said. “Is it still a game of whackamole, or is it starting to level out?”
Miranda replied that about 950 stores had passed a Sherrif’s inspection.
“That means that people are understanding that we’re out there [and] that we’re going to be coming back,” he said. “So, they’re being compliant with the law.”