The officers tore through the seedy smoke shop in the shadow of the George Washington Bridge, packing dozens of large plastic bags with evidence and hauling them off to a waiting NYPD van.
The portly worker behind the counter at 181 Convenience pleaded with the cops to let him off the hook, even as they turned over the store, methodically collecting, cataloguing and photographing.
“I’ve only been working here a week!” he told them. “I’m only doing my job.”
The dramatic daytime Monday raid seemed reminiscent of New York’s “bad old days.” But instead of taking out a heroin mill or busting up a cocaine ring, this special task force has been targeting the Big Apple’s latest scourge: illegal pot sellers.
Cannabis is big business in the wake of New York’s 2021 decision to legalize recreational pot. And there’s been a boom of shop owners illegally selling a variety of cannabis, edibles, vape products and cigarettes — even as the city ramps up efforts to stamp the black market out.
New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda, who invited The Post to ride along with his deputies this week, testified during a January city council hearing that law enforcement is targeting more than 1,400 stores for suspected illegal activity.
The task force is part of the city’s effort to crack down on these illegal pot shops. But officials – including Mayor Eric Adams – have said the state law that legalized the drug has kneecapped their mission.
There’s only three legal dispensaries in the city right now. But shady merchants can typically escape with a court summons and meager fines if caught.
“We go in. We do enforcement, and I think we can only do $250 fines,” Adams said last week. “And our police officers can’t take the necessary action.”
This has created a sense among the cops that no matter how many stores they hit in their twice-weekly blitzes, it’s not going to make much of a difference.
“You’ll see – we’ll wipe them out, seize everything they have, and the next day they’re open again,” said Det. Veronica Robles, an eight-year veteran of the city Sheriff’s Office who escorted The Post on Monday.
“They’re making a lot of money. We’ve actually heard from some owners that they take us into account as the cost of doing business.”
One infamous example of this is Jungle Boys, the illegal shop that operated across the street from City Hall despite landing on The Post’s front page and being raided several times.
“We’re not worried [about another raid]. If we were worried, we wouldn’t be selling this product,” a store staffer boasted to The Post.
On Monday, the store appeared shuttered, with a locked door and empty shelves. But the worker’s attitude proliferates among illegal sellers.
Miranda said the raids, which on Monday focused on spots near schools or houses of worship, are only the beginning.
“This is just the first phase,” Miranda said. “We’re going to be moving … into more extensive investigations, looking into their background, their taxes, where the money’s going and who’s funding these locations.”
Miranda’s office leads the task force, which includes members of the NYPD, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and the New York State Office of Cannabis Management.
They hit stores throughout the five boroughs based on a review of complaints to 311, referrals from elected officials and internal intelligence reports.
“Everybody walking into the location has a particular authority of oversight and inspection, so we go in and inspect all the products on the shelves,” Miranda said.
Since its inception in November, the task force has inspected 142 sites and issued more than 285 violations worth more than $500,000 in fines. It’s also seized more than $8 million in illicit products.
In February alone, the group seized more than $262,000 in cannabis-related merchandise and $45,000 in untaxed cigarettes.
Still, street enforcement can only go so far.
Robles, the Sheriff’s Office detective, said a store can be shut down if it has three offenses. But the stores often find legal loopholes that let them reopen.
Earlier this month, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg warned hundreds of the illegal pot joints that he’s ready to start issuing eviction notices if tenants are found to be dealing illegal goods.
“It is time for the operation of unlicensed cannabis dispensaries to end,” Bragg said at a press conference. “They’ve been put on notice.”
During the raid on 181 Convenience – which is at 840 West 181st Street – cops said they seized about $73,000 worth of untaxed cigarettes, vape products, cannabis flower and THC edibles.
They also issued seven violations whose penalties will reach about $13,000.
“He’s definitely gonna get summonses,” Det. Sgt. Erin Markevitch said of the sullen store worker. “There’s a lot of edibles, a lot of flavored stuff, which he’ll get a decent amount of tickets for. There’s also cigarettes, which he doesn’t have a license for. This was all covered up when we walked in here – they hid it with a curtain. That’s another ticket. And also with the cannabis, they don’t have a license for this stuff. All those flavored vapes, you can’t have in the city, period.”
Later that day, a raid on Bavaro Smoke Shop on 181st Street netted police about $50,000 worth of the same merchandise. They also issued $17,500 worth of violations.
“This is what we’re talking about,” Robles said, referencing the store’s litany of THC-laced candy and gummies. “A child will come in here and take this, thinking it’s a candy and it’s really not. And then they share it with their friends. That’s what causes the public safety problem.”
181 Convenience was closed Tuesday. Bongs and bowls lined the storefront’s shelves, but the gate was down and the shop was dark. An employee outside said he didn’t know when the store would reopen.
Meanwhile, Bavaro’s was selling THC products the next day.
“The state sells it, why can’t we sell it?” said Jamel Zak, an store employee. “It is what it is.”
