Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Tuesday the closure of an unlicensed storefront cannabis dispensary on Bell Boulevard in Bayside after a court-authorized search of the premises on Thursday, May 14, resulted in the seizure of thousands of pounds of illicit cannabis and tobacco products worth an estimated $10 million. Two people were arrested on felony-level charges.
The enforcement efforts were in response to community concerns and are part of an ongoing joint investigation with the NYPD/NYC Sheriff Cannabis Task Force to identify and shut down illegal cannabis operations across the borough.
“The sheer volume of unregulated, illicit cannabis and tobacco products recovered from this location is deeply alarming, particularly given that Bell Boulevard is a well-known gathering place for families and teenagers,” Katz said. “Illegal cannabis storefronts continue to threaten the safety of our communities. I commend the members of my Crime Strategies and Intelligence Bureau, Detective Bureau, our partners at the New York City Department of Finance, New York City Sheriff’s Office and the NYPD for their work in shutting down these illegal operations.”
Queens DA Melinda Katz said the sheer volume of illicit cannabis in the second-floor stash house was deeply alarming. Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
Law enforcement officials seized illegal and unregulated cannabis and tobacco products worth an estimated $10 million. Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
She said members of her Detective Bureau, the 111th Precinct on the NYC Sheriff Cannabis Task Force executed the search warrant at the Bayside Convenience storefront and a second-floor apartment at 40-13 Bell Blvd. Detectives from her office joined investigators from the NYC Sheriff’s Office and police from the 111th Precinct to execute the search warrant at the Bayside Convenience storefront and a second-story apartment at 43-10 Bell Blvd. The apartment served as a stash house for illicit cannabis and tobacco products. The store owners had rigged a pulley system that was used to lower illegal products in a chute from the apartment to the ground-floor storefront for waiting customers, officials said.
“Illegal cannabis and unregulated vape products pose a serious threat to public health and safety, especially when these harmful products are marketed and made accessible to young people,” NYC Sheriff Anthony Miranda said. “The NYC Sheriff’s Office Joint Compliance Task Force remains committed to protecting New Yorkers by removing these dangerous products from our communities. We thank our law enforcement partners at the Queens District Attorney’s Office and the New York City Police Department for their continued collaboration on this important enforcement effort.”
A Jackson Height man was arrested along with a Bensonhurst resident during the multi-agency raid and charged with criminal possession of cannabis in the first degree. Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
Investigators discovered a pully system that was installed in a chute the defendants used to lower the illicit products to waiting customers in the Bell Boulevard storefront below. Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
More than 526 pounds of cannabis flower, 417 pounds of THC vapes, 284 pounds of cannabis edibles, 17 pounds of THC concentrate, 1,635 pounds of flavored tobacco vapes and 101 pounds of other tobacco products were seized at the location with an estimated value of $10 million.
Saif Ajmal Khan, 27, of 73rd Street in Jackson Heights, and Haroon Al Nomiri, 23, of 20th Avenue in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, were arrested on-site.
Khan was arraigned Friday before Queens Criminal Court Judge Jennifer Saint-Preux and Al Nomiri was arraigned Tuesday before Queens Criminal Court Judge Indira Khan on a criminal complaint charging them with criminal possession of cannabis in the first degree. They were released on their own recognizance and ordered to return to court on July 24. They each face up to 2 ⅓ to seven years in prison if convicted.
Bayside Convenience was the 89th unlicensed dispensary to be shuttered by the Joint Compliance Task Force already this year, after 358 shops were padlocked in 2025. Since November 2022, Queens DA’s ongoing effort to rid the borough of illegal dispensaries, whether operating out of trucks and vans or brick-and-mortar commercial locations, has resulted in the prosecution of 475 individuals for felony-related charges related to the sale and/or possession of cannabis or controlled substances in Queens. A total of 352 shops in Queens have been padlocked since May 2024.
NYC Sheriff Anthony Miranda said the harmful products found in the second-story apartment pose a serious threat to public health and safety. Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
“Shutting down illicit cannabis shops is critical to protecting our communities, safeguarding customers, and ensuring that the legal, regulated cannabis market in New York City has the opportunity to grow and succeed,” Department of Finance Commissioner Richard Lee said. “The Department of Finance and Sheriff’s Office will continue to provide resources and operational support to our law enforcement partners as we work together to combat illegal operations across the city.”
Inspectors from the city’s Department of Buildings were called to the scene on May 14 to investigate suspected illegal occupancy, and they found that full partitions had been constructed without permits on the second floor to create illegal Single Room Occupancy (SRO) units and a bathroom. The unpermitted walls were blocking egress routes for the occupants of the second floor. DOB issued two violations to the landlord for illegal work without a permit to create the SROs and a second violation for the illegal occupancy contrary to city records. DOB also issued a partial vacate order for the second floor of the building due to the obstructed egress paths.