New York: New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda, New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Edward A. Caban, and New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga celebrated milestone achievements in the city’s effective enforcement actions against illegal cannabis shops. Since launching “Operation Padlock to Protect” — a multi-agency task force made up of members from the Sheriff’s Office, the NYPD, and DCWP — the Adams administration has sealed a total of 779 shops and issued 41,502 counts of violations amounting to $65,671,487 in penalties. The city estimates it has already seized a total value of $41,443,792 in illegal products.
Over the month of July alone, “Operation Padlock to Protect” conducted several successful enforcement actions aimed at targeting the manufacturing, processing, and distribution networks of illegal cannabis suppliers across New York City. After conducting operations against, the task force delivered the biggest seizure of illegal products to date. These two operations alone resulted in a combined $8 million of illegal products being taken off city streets.
“In the three months since launching ‘Operation Padlock to Protect,’ our administration has delivered major results on a major quality of life and public safety issue,” said Mayor Adams. “For too long, illegal shops have contributed to a feeling that anything goes on our streets, while targeting our most vulnerable — including children — with dangerous, counterfeit products marketed as candy. But today, we are celebrating that this is no longer being tolerated and we are making huge gains to protect communities and usher in a legal cannabis market that will thrive. I thank Sheriff Miranda, Commissioner Caban, and Commissioner Mayuga for overseeing this highly successful enforcement operation. I also extend deep thanks to our partners in Albany, especially Governor Hochul, for giving us the legal authority we needed to stub out these illegal shops.”
“Earlier this year, I enacted new enforcement powers to quickly and permanently close the thousands of illegal cannabis retailers across New York selling potentially dangerous products — many of which are marketed to children and teens — and siphoning sales from hard-working, licensed store owners,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochul. "Today, I am pleased to join Mayor Adams and other officials to celebrate a milestone and recognize the enforcement teams who shut down more than 1,000 unlicensed stores statewide, bringing us closer to our goal of building the strongest, most equitable cannabis industry in the nation.”
