It didn’t take long to smoke these men out.
Cops raided an illegal pot business in Brooklyn on Monday, a day after an enraged, weed-puffing employee taunted authorities to close the store and boasted that he doesn’t “give an f-k.”
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The sheriff’s office and the NYPD raided the Gelato marijuana shop on 86th Street in Bay Ridge, hours after The Post reported about the shop and a citywide plague of unlicensed marijuana vendors.
“We’re happy to respond to community complaints,” city Sheriff Antony Miranda, who was on the scene, told the Post.
Authorities seized cannabis flowers, sweets, pre-roilled joints, THC vapes, and illicit flavored vape goods from the store, imposing $25,000 in penalties, according to a representative for Mayor Eric Adams.
The raid came after a worker gave a Post reporter a whiff of a joint on Sunday, saying vows to shutter the illegal stores were “nothing new.”
The worker stated, “There’s always the possibility of raids here.” “But I am not going to lose my job!
“I’ll set up a table outside and sell it on the street.” I do not give a fuck!” You can’t mess with someone’s money!”
The worker vowed that everyone “will adjust” and added, “They’re housing illegal immigrants and paying their way to get Biden’s vote, and this is what they’re going to do?” “Come raid pot shops?”
As police went through the store, City Councilman Justin Branna, who represents the region, insulted it.
“Play foolish games; win ridiculous prizes.”If you’re operating fully illegally, maybe you shouldn’t talk trash and insult the authorities in the New York Post.” Just a thought,” Brannan posted on X.
Brannan later told The Post that Gelato had been on the community’s “radar” for quite some time.
“I support the legalization of recreational marijuana, but these new retail licenses from the state will be worthless, and tax revenue will be a far cry from what’s anticipated unless we get more licenses out the door and get serious about the illegal weed shops masquerading as legit dispensaries,” Brannan said in a statement.
More than a week after the mayor and Gov. Kathy Hochul held a victory lap press conference praising a tougher state law that makes it easier to padlock unlicensed cannabis shops, The Post visited several suspected illegal cannabis locations on Sunday. However, the promised crackdown did not immediately follow the change.
Following raids and interim closing orders, many illegal marijuana businesses restarted right away.
“We have not yet started enforcing the new law. “That will happen in the next few weeks,” the mayor’s spokesperson stated on Monday.
He stated, “Everyone is hopeful the new laws they just passed in Albany will finally get this right and give the City of New York the power we should have had all along.”
The establishment is one of over 100 suspected illicit pot stores that The Post was able to uncover quickly after contacting a few government officials, community boards, and business groups.
Community Board 10 in southern Brooklyn, which includes Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, and Fort Hamilton, has identified more than 20 illicit marijuana shops.
Adams stated last week that there are up to 2,800 illicit smoke businesses in the city, yet there are only 53 state-licensed dispensaries in the city and 116 in the entire state.
