Two people were arrested for weapons possession and a fortune worth of suspicious products were confiscated during a city Sheriff’s Office raid on an unlicensed cannabis shop in Midtown on Thursday — the unofficial holiday for pot smokers known as 4/20.
The value of the illicit goods was placed at around half a million dollars, according to city Sheriff Anthony Miranda.
Officials said they were acting on community complaints including allegations that products sold at the “Weed World” store on Seventh Ave. near W. 36th St. made customers ill.
The raid by Miranda’s team and officials from the New York State Office of Cannabis Management happened around 1:15 p.m.
Two individuals believed to be associated with the shop were arrested for weapons possession, Miranda said.
State officials were expected to seize all of the illegal products and some will be tested, Miranda said.
Customers had complained of “adverse effects” from products they bought at the illegal shop, according to Miranda.
On Thursday, one woman recalled visiting the store in November and asking a worker for something that wasn’t too strong that would get her high. The employee suggested a lollipop, so she tried it.
“I licked it three or four times and I couldn’t get myself together,” said the woman, who only wanted to be identified as Christina. “Then I met some friends and they said, ‘I’m sorry, but you don’t look OK. Can you get home?’ And I barely got home.”
“It wasn’t THC. It was something else … I wasn’t relaxed. It was dangerous,” she added.
Officers “found all kinds of products downstairs” and evidence”indicating that they are self-packaging with other labels on it, as well, that don’t necessarily say it comes from their location,” Miranda said.
“They have been issued violations. There will be fines,” he added. “There will be ongoing investigations. And this is just one of many that are going to be continued.”
Thursday’s raid was the latest effort from local law enforcement to crack down on illegal pot shops that have cropped up all over the city since the state legalized recreational pot.
The Sheriff’s Office conducted 162 raids on unlicensed smoke shops from January to April, making 46 arrests and issuing 249 notices of violations, according to Miranda.
Some $6.7 million worth of product has been seized, he said.
