{"id":176278,"date":"2026-03-26T17:54:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T17:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/176278\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T17:54:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T17:54:48","slug":"illegal-cannabis-dispensary-operating-out-of-two-locations-in-laurelton-padlocked-under-operation-weed-whacker-da-qns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/176278\/","title":{"rendered":"Illegal cannabis dispensary operating out of two locations in Laurelton padlocked under Operation Weed Whacker: DA \u2013 QNS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"The\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Queens District Attorney\u2019s Office padlocked two Laurelton storefronts operated by an illegal cannabis dispensary under the ongoing Operation Weed Whacker. <\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of the DA\u2019s office<\/p>\n

An unlicensed storefront dispensary operation out of two locations on Merrick Boulevard in Laurelton<\/a> were padlocked as part of an ongoing joint enforcement effort dubbed Operation Weed Whacker, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Thursday. A court-authorized search of the premises resulted in the seizure of hundreds of pounds of illicit cannabis and tobacco products as well as a machete and a total of five arrests.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, March 19, the Queens DA\u2019s Detective Bureau, officers from the 116th Precinct<\/a>\u00a0and the NYC Sheriff Cannabis Task Force raided two locations that were operating jointly as a single unlicensed cannabis dispensary at 217-09 and 216-17 Merrick Blvd.<\/p>\n

As alleged, the operators dispensed and stored cannabis products in one location that appeared to be a shuttered storefront. A second nearby storefront \u2014 with signage for a driving school \u2014 served as the main location for cannabis transactions with customers. Five defendants were arrested on-site and charged with varying crimes related to criminal possession of cannabis. A total of 100 pounds of cannabis flower, 95 pounds of cannabis vapes, 350 pounds of cannabis edibles, 312 pounds of illegal flavored tobacco vapes and 30 pounds of other tobacco products were seized from the location.<\/p>\n

\"SeizedSeized items included many packaged to mimic pastry brands and popular candy to appeal to young people.Photo courtesy of the DA\u2019s Office
\n\"SeizedSeized items included many packaged to mimic pastry brands and popular candy to appeal to young people.Photo courtesy of the DA\u2019s Office<\/p>\n

\u201cUnregulated cannabis storefronts continue to pose a serious threat to the safety of our communities, with operators going to increasingly sophisticated lengths to conceal illegal products and evade law enforcement,\u201d Katz said. \u201cMany of the seized items are deliberately packaged to mimic popular candy and pastry brands and are clearly intended to attract and appeal to young people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Laurelton operation is part of the DA\u2019s ongoing effort to rid Queens of illegal dispensaries whether operating out of trucks and vans or brick-and-mortar commercial businesses. Since November 2022, enforcement efforts have resulted in the prosecution of 467 individuals for felony-related charges related to the sale and\/or possession of cannabis or controlled substances in Queens. A total of 345 shops have been padlocked across the borough since May 2024 through the assistance of the NYC Sheriff\u2019s Office, the NYPD and the New York State Police \u2014 Queens Bureau of Criminal Investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thank members of my Crime Strategies and Intelligence Bureau, Detective Bureau, Major Economics Crimes Bureau and our partners at the New York City Sheriff\u2019s Office and the NYPD for their ongoing dedication to this work,\u201d Katz said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Queens District Attorney\u2019s Office padlocked two Laurelton storefronts operated by an illegal cannabis dispensary under the ongoing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[61586,71561,71562,71563,71564,9,24,63,71565,122,5193,124,123],"class_list":["post-176278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-cannabis-dispensary","tag-cannabis-edibles","tag-cannabis-vapes","tag-illegal-dispensary","tag-illegal-weed","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-operation-weed-whacker","tag-queens","tag-queens-district-attorney-melinda-katz","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}