Transcript: Mayor Adams, Sheriff Miranda, NYPD Commissioner Caban Announce Results of Major Illegal Cannabis Bust, Estimating $1 Million of Product Seized

July 17, 2024

Deputy Mayor Philip Banks III, Public Safety: Good afternoon. We are here to talk about two incidents that took place yesterday on East Tremont Road. Let me introduce the dais. Now we have with us the mayor of the City of New York, Eric Adams. We're joined by the sheriff of the City of New York, Anthony Miranda. The NYPD's chief of Patrol, John Chell. Deputy commissioner for the NYPD, Kaz Daughtry. We also are joined by Assemblymember Michael Benedetto. Councilmember Kristy Marmorato. The Bronx DA needs no introduction, Bronx DA Clark is with us. Certainly my friend, sometimes, depending on what day it is, the Bronx borough president, Vanessa Gibson. and the DA Comms Director, Patrice O'Shaughnessy. With that, I will introduce the mayor of the city of New York, Mayor Eric Adams.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Thanks so much, DM. Lieutenant, why don't you come up here? Because you're on the ground doing the work. We were here late last night till around about midnight. I'm sure you walked inside and saw what's in the back. 

This amazing team, Sergeant Ramos and the entire team. When you just look at this stuff, these are mushroom bars. You look at the colorful packaging. You look at super lemon, cherry. These are items that there's a clear attempt to, number one, attract our young people, and number two, to have the familiar products that those who are familiar with what cannabis looks like. They're building out the pipeline of customers, and they're going to the traditional customers. 

When you look at how much was captured in the back here, the amount in the different devices and different, this is all cannabis that's in the back. When you have our council persons, our assembly members, our BP, and of course our DA. We are all coming together because we realize how much this is not only a public safety issue, it's a health issue. When you see how these items, nerds, this is clearly targeting young people. 

To show the sophistication of the operation is that this is just a regular bodega, a regular deli, and you would pass by it. When we started our initiatives, those who want to put profits over public safety and health, they knew they had to change their game plan. We see that facilities like this, which is just your normal place when you come in to pick up a soda pop. You also can come here and pick up some of the cannabis and other illegal items. 

The amount of items that they've had here and in the other location just sends a message of how much of a problem this is and how it has proliferated throughout our entire city. Really hats off to the sheriff and his team for being on the ground and hats off to the community. Because it was due to the partnership of the community that placed this on our radar. The community heard us when we said if you see something, say something, and most importantly, do something, and we followed up on that. Really kudos to the teamwork that was put in place to close down this shop. 

Clearly this shop was a feeder for other shops in the area. This was a main distributor. They've turned this into a chain store industry. We must get to the heart of who's in charge of the distribution, the delivery, some of the stuff we saw inside. It's a very sophisticated operation, and that is why it's so important to see the collaboration that we're seeing here when you look at it. 

This seizure is more than $1 million worth of illegal products. We've had two locations in close proximity. It's clear that they are distributed throughout this entire area. This is what padlocking and protecting our streets look like. This is what it's about. Unlicensed cannabis shops are one of the biggest quality of life issues facing New Yorkers. These electeds will tell you, they hear it all the time. 

What we're doing with our Operation Padlock to Protect, we have already shut down 640 illegal smoke shops and allowed us to seize $20 million in illegal products and impose more than $53 million in fines and penalties on those who continue to break the law. They want to break it in a very organized way. This is making a huge difference in our streetscape and improving the quality of life of countless New Yorkers in record time, 640 locations. 

This has become a magnet for crime, as Chief Chell and the team would tell you, has been a magnet for the erosion of quality of life in our city. We're not going to sit back and allow it to happen. Too long, the communities have stated that these shops contribute to the feeling that anything goes on our streets. It's not going to happen, and that's our desire. I just really want to thank the team and just realize how all of these combinations of products that are put together and what their goal is, what do they want to accomplish by selling these products. Very sophisticated operation. We're saying to those who are doing this, we're more sophisticated than you. We will find you, we will shut you down, and in cases where it calls for incarceration, we are going to incarcerate. 

Again, I want to thank our partners who have joined us today and understand how imperative it is for this operation. Hats off to you, Lieutenant. You were up late last night handling the job, Sergeant, and the entire team working in collaboration. This is why we needed to be able to deputize NYPD personnel, because they have the manpower to complement what the sheriff is doing. 

I'm going to turn it over, I'm going to have to leave to go to another event in Queens, but I want to turn it over to all my colleagues that are here in government and to continue the conversation.

Deputy Mayor Banks: Just real quick, as the mayor said, just real clear, this is not just about an unlicensed cannabis shop that's selling some weed. They undermine the legal market. They're people who follow the rules, right? They undermine them. They evade taxes. We take a lot of robberies at this location. 

More importantly, and I don't want this fact to get lost, they distribute products that haven't been tested. What's in these products are chemicals that's designed to addict our kids. They're looking for lifelong addicts to buy their products. This is not just a local person selling weed, it's a lot thicker than that. With that, we're going to now hear from the Sheriff of the City of New York, Anthony Miranda.

Sheriff Anthony Miranda: Thank you, deputy mayor. I want to start off by saying thanks to the mayor and the elected officials who fought to get the regulations to be able to seal these locations. Because this is Padlock to Protect, it's the first opportunity that we had to actually close down locations. No longer just seizing and issuing fines, but actually closing these locations down. They present a clear danger to our communities and to our children. These are unregulated, untested products. These are what, like deputy mayor said, that these are the things that are soliciting our children. 

In this measure, I want to thank the entire team. It's the partnership that the mayor has mandated from the New York City Police Department to the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and all the other city agencies that participate with the sheriff's office in doing this enforcement. We'll continue the fight and we'll continue to adjust our inspections and our methods to adjust to what the criminals are doing in this illegal market. We'll adjust as they adjust. We're out there fighting the fight. 

Again, I'll stress what the mayor said. It is the community's information that is critical to our continued enforcement. We want to thank you for the information that you continue to give us and let you know that we are hearing you. We hear your complaints and your information matters. Continue to report it to all the resources and to the sheriff's office. 

Any additional people that show up in our communities, you all know who opens up first in our communities because you live there. When you see them and they don't belong, make sure you make the first phone call and report them early so we can get on them before they have a chance to put their roots into our communities. Again, I want to thank you, deputy mayor and the mayor for everything that you do to help us. Thank you.

Deputy Mayor Banks: Thank you, Sheriff. Next now, we're going to hear from the …

[Crosstalk.]

Alguacil Miranda: Yo soy el alguacil de Nueva York. Estamos aquí dando las gracias primero al alcalde de Nueva York, que ha peleado por el derecho para cerrar estos locales. Es muy importante que nosotros estamos en esta pelea. Es un peligro a nuestros niños y a nuestra comunidad ahora mismo. Hemos cerrado más de 600 locales aquí en la ciudad en menos tiempo de bastante de otros. Más importante para nosotros es la información que nos ha dado la comunidad. Nosotros estamos oyendo los complaints que están llegando a nuestras oficinas. Por favor, ustedes van a saber los ilegales que están entrando a nuestra comunidad, vendiendo esas cosas a nuestros niños. Ustedes pueden reportarlo y nosotros vamos a investigar y hacer lo que es necesario para proteger nuestra comunidad. Gracias a todos ustedes.

Translation: I am the sheriff of New York. We are here thanking first the mayor of New York who has fought for the right to close these stores. It is very important that we are in this fight. It is a danger to our children and our community right now. We have closed more than 600 stores here in the city in less time than many others. More important to us is the information that the community has brought us. We are listening to the complaints that are coming to our offices, please. You are going to know the illegals that are entering our community, selling these things to our children. You can report it and we will investigate and do what is necessary to protect our community. Thanks to all of you.

Deputy Mayor Banks: Now we're going to hear from the district attorney from the county of The Bronx, Darcel Clark.

Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark: Thank you Deputy Mayor Banks. Good afternoon. I am Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, and I am thankful for this partnership here today. The Sheriff's Office, the NYPD, the community, the Throggs Neck BID, I was here months ago walking this corridor with the members of the Throggs Neck BID, knowing and feeling their pain about operations just like this. 

I want to thank you, first and foremost, the community, because if it weren't for you, the rest of us wouldn't be standing here closing this operation. You are the heart and soul of what keeps our community safe, and I can't thank you enough. This is not only about public safety, but it's also about public health. As your DA, I'm concerned about all of it. 

We're going to make sure, one, that it's compliance. That's what the sheriff, first and foremost, those inspections are about compliance. It's been decriminalized. We understand that. Those who are rightfully putting in the applications and looking for the licenses, they should have the opportunity to do that. Those who think that they can run unlicensed operations and selling things like these that are untested, that causes harm to our community, not only the safety, but the health of our community. 

As a DA, I'm going to remain in this partnership with every single person here today, because my office understands about compliance. We understand about the civil repercussions of running illegal operations like this, as well as the criminal repercussions of that. I am going to make sure that we do all of it. I have a Special Investigations Bureau that is handling the criminal side and a Civil Litigation Bureau that's handling the nuisance abatement and the other civil actions. 

Thank you to the community. Thank you, Sheriff Miranda. Thank you, Chief Chell and the NYPD. Thank you to the community. Thank you to Councilmember Marmorato, to Assemblyman Benedetto, Senator Fernandez, and, of course, our borough president, Vanessa Gibson, who is always here in the forefront to make sure we're doing what we need to do for our community. I'm the Bronx DA. I'm here, ready, willing, and able to serve. Thank you.

Deputy Mayor Banks: Thank you, DA. Now, with that, we're going to hear from the borough president of the Bronx, Vanessa Gibson.

Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson: Thank you, everyone. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you to the incredible team at the NYPD. Thank you to our mayor, our deputy mayor, to Sheriff Miranda, to our lieutenant, everyone at the Sheriff's Office, all of my colleagues in government.

I want to echo what DA Darcelle Clark has said. The Throggs Neck community, we're not going to accept anyone coming into our community to destroy what we have worked so hard for. From the Throggs Neck BID, to the Throggs Neck Neighborhood Alliance, to all of our business owners and merchants and tenants and homeowners that invest in Throggs Neck. We're not going to accept this type of operation here in Throggs Neck or anywhere else in the Bronx.

Funny enough, it says family deli, but nothing about this deli exemplifies family when it comes to building our communities. This operation padlock is with the intention and the purpose to get rid of those that do not follow the rules, unlicensed, untested, and unregulated cannabis products. Preying on our children, vulnerable communities, is unacceptable. 

As your borough president, I am working closely with our mayor, with our sheriff, the deputy mayor, the NYPD, all of our chiefs at the borough, as well as right here in the 45, with Inspector Johnny Orellana, to make sure that you feel safe, that you understand that we are here to keep everyone safe. This is a fundamental right that we are afforded. We cannot allow anyone to come into our communities with these types of intentions to destroy our neighborhoods. 

I am so grateful. I especially want to recognize Councilmember Kristy Marmorato, because she's been working every single day as our representative here in Throggs Neck, working with Sheriff Miranda, giving him tips and information and inquiry to make sure that we are able to shut down these illegal and unlicensed operators. I also want to acknowledge Commissioner Kaz, Commissioner Caban, Chief Chell. Thank you so much to Chief Gurley, Chief Ramsey, and everyone. 

Understand, community, we are here to serve you. If something, please know that we will act, and we will make sure that we do our part to shut them down. I thank you so much for operation padlock, and know that there is more to come, but thank you for this action today, because we will send a loud message that you are not coming into our communities to destroy what we have worked so hard for. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. 

Deputy Mayor Banks: Thank you, President Gibson, very much so. Next,we're going to hear from Assemblymember Michael Benedetto.

State Assemblymember Michael Benedetto: Thank you, everybody. Listen, there were problems in the law. We didn't give proper enforcement to the agencies that needed it. You guys yelled and screamed about that. We listened, and we changed the laws. Now, people will see something and say something. As a matter of fact, the people in this community did more than say something. They shouted something, okay? They turned them on to this. 

My compliments to the Throggs Neck BID for being so vigilant here. Whenever there's a problem, we try to correct that problem, okay? We applaud all the law enforcement agencies that gathered together in unison, in unity, to solve this problem. May this continue for months, as long as we need it. Thank you, everybody. 

Deputy Mayor Banks: Thank you, Assemblymember. Next, we're going to hear from Councilmember Kristy Marmorato. 

City Council Member Kristy Marmorato: I have to tell you, this right here to me is probably one of the most devastating things that I can see. Nerds and Trolls are two of the candies that my eight-year-old daughter eats or has on a weekly basis. My kid is not going to look at this packaging and say, hey, it's different. She's going to look at the packaging and say, oh, it's new. I got to try this new flavor. 

To see something like this devastates me, because my daughter and the children of our district deserve absolutely much better than this. I'm devastated by seeing this, and I'm glad that we were able to shut this down. I do want to thank the mayor's office for operation to padlock, because we are here to support this program. 

Of course, I want to thank the Sheriff's Office, the NYPD, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection for their hard work and dedication to keeping our community safe. Most importantly, I want to thank the people of District 13. You have flooded our office with tips. We have created an anonymous tip line that we were able to share to the sheriff's office on a weekly basis to give them as much information as they possibly can to help them do the job that they can. 

I look forward to continuing to work in my community to continue to stop these smoke shops. We have a little bit of — this is a great win for us today in Throgs Neck, but we got a lot more work to do because we are saturated with stores like this. Everybody involved, I thank you so much for all of your efforts, and I look forward to continuing successful shutdowns like this one. Thank you.

Deputy Mayor Banks: Thank you councilmember, you're so correct, and thank you. I think now we're going to go to questions on this particular operation. I think we're going to have questions about other incidents later, but right now, I believe we're taking … 

Question: Good afternoon. I don't know if it would be the Sheriff's Office or Commissioner Chell back there, but we'd like to know how many other arrests have resulted from this particular bust. We know that two people working here were arrested. It was another operation. In terms of the investigation, are these two connected? Are they separate? How many other arrests have taken place after [Inaudible.]

Deputy Mayor Banks: Are you talking about as it relates to just these two operations here, you wouldn't have to … 

[Crosstalk.]

Sheriff Miranda: Okay so the two different investigations are not related. One location had over 176 pounds of cannabis flower, in addition — and the psilocybin as well, the mushrooms. This location also had more than 176 pounds of marijuana, plus the psilocybin in this location. Separate investigations that resulted in a total of nine arrests.

Question: Who are the players? The level of the players, are they — give us a scope of what these arrests are?

Sheriff Miranda: The investigation is still ongoing at this time.

Question: I talked about the timeframe, but when the tips came in from the community, so the time you were able to get in and get this busted, what does that look like? Is it a year, six months? Tell us the timeframe.

Sheriff Miranda: As we get the complaints, you should understand that we have to do background investigations on the locations before we come out. We do investigations before we come in and visit, do the inspections at these locations. I think it was a matter of less than a month that the complaint came in, or a couple of weeks. We received the complaint, we went out and did an investigation, and then we scheduled them for inspection.

Question: Are there any plans to maybe do an investigation of some sort in the area? Oh. Do you have a license for that? Do you have the cannabis people?

Deputy Mayor Banks: Yes, well, there's, the state authorized the process, so I'm not exactly sure how many here, but the whole city has been mapped out, so there are people in the pipeline to open up geographically. When that is, it could be 30 days, it could be sixty days, I'm not exactly sure. The plan was to be able to have all of these shops license, follow the laws, get their product tested, so when they're out there, people who are actually buying legal cannabis, they know that they're smoking legal cannabis and nothing infused with anything else, and certainly not having it when you can have a council member's child walk into a store and potentially pick up a product. 

They're doing this by design, right? They're not saying, hey, don't touch this. They're saying, what are people selling, right? Just like Amazon would say, what's selling? Let's find out. This is what's selling, and now they're packing it. They're doing that to our community. The thing about it is that if we stay together as we are, it can't work. It can only work if they have the division among us. This is an example of some of the good things when government does work together.

Question: [Inaudible.]

Chief John Chell, Chief of Patrol, Police Department: There is no secret that some of these legal cannabis shops throughout the city attract a bad crowd, and it's been no secret the influx of robberies that have occurred in these smoke shops by some of our younger robbers, if you will. It's been going on two years. 

I could say with certainty, and the sheriff will say with certainty, throughout every community in the city, universally, people are against illegal cannabis. They're against all this that could hurt our children. That I could say for certainty. Okay?

Deputy Mayor Banks: I just want to piggyback on that. the difference between federal and state law, money going into banks that's a result of sale of cannabis is a completely different level of enforcement. They're dealing in cash operations. They are very prone to the bad guys and the bad girls coming in. We got bad guys and bad girls coming in, robbing bad guys and bad girls. What happens when those shootings start? Our children are walking by, right? Our grandmothers, our mothers are walking by. 

That's why this is not about, and we would do an injustice if we label it, this is just an illegal weed shop. It's much more than that. Around the cases are much more dangerous than that. If you don't listen to me, just listen to the people from the Bronx, how they have just communicated. I don't think it could have been said any better than the four elected officials who said it here today. This is a problem. They've heard from their constituents they don't want it. They don't want it. We certainly work together as a team to avoid it.