Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz is continuing to push hard against unlicensed cannabis shops across the borough. In her latest enforcement sweep, carried out together with the New York City Sheriff’s Office, six stores were shut down, and a significant amount of illegal product was taken off the shelves.
Officials say the teams recovered about 130 pounds of cannabis flower, 110 pounds of cannabis vapes, 74 pounds of edibles, and 173 pounds of flavored tobacco vapes. Some of the items were designed to look like candy, which immediately raised red flags for investigators. At one shop, they even found toys with hidden compartments stuffed with cannabis – a detail that underscores how far some of these operators go to hide what they’re selling.
This work is part of Operation Weed Whacker, a broader push to clean up unlicensed cannabis sales in Queens. Public reports on the operation confirm that four people connected to the targeted shops were arrested. Over the past year, Katz’s office has overseen the closure of more than 300 illegal dispensaries across the borough.
Katz has been clear about why her office is prioritizing this. Illegal shops sell untested and unregulated products, often in packaging that could easily attract minors. Her office has repeatedly found candy-style wrappers, brightly colored vape devices, and other youth-oriented branding during past raids – and flavored tobacco vapes, which are banned in the city, continue to surface in large quantities.
This effort in Queens mirrors a citywide push involving the Sheriff’s Office, NYPD, and multiple agencies trying to get control over a rapidly expanding illegal marketplace since the state’s cannabis laws changed.
Katz has said in previous statements that shutting down these operations is about basic public safety, not politics.
With these latest closures, inspections and enforcement actions are expected to continue across Queens, especially in neighborhoods where residents have raised concerns about the growing number of unregulated shops.
By Shabsie Saphirstein
