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Towns confiscate contraband products
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| | | One of the confiscated bongs attached to a gas mask, which is used to keep smoke from escaping during inhalation, officials said. Photo by J. Choi (click for larger version) | |
June 04, 2009 | 04:06 PM
The town supervisors of Brookhaven and Huntington joined Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota on Thursday to announce their efforts in successfully seizing drug paraphernalia from six Brookhaven retailers and a store in Huntington Station - in one case across the street from William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach and in another, within a block of a Huntington Station methadone clinic.
The towns obtained injunctions against the owners and operators of smoke shops in State Supreme Court late Tuesday, allowing the police to seize paraphernalia at the seven locations where undercover detectives purchased items such as smoking bongs and pipe smoking screens, according to the officials. Two arrests were made in connection with the enforcement effort and owners of the stores face civil fines between $1,000 and $10,000 for each violation.
"We will no longer stand idly by while so-called 'responsible' businesses in our town make money off of selling bongs and pipes to our children in neighborhoods and across the street from our schools," Lesko said in a written statement. "This is the first initiative of Brookhaven's new Quality of Life task force, which spearheaded this effort with the Suffolk County Police Department and we successfully seized thousands of dollars worth of drug paraphernalia from our streets."
Huntington Supervisor Frank Petrone said, "These are quality of life as well as legal issues. These stores all operate in close proximity to residential neighborhoods, school bus stops and highly-trafficked retail establishments such as pharmacies and supermarkets. Law-abiding citizens should not be subjected to the discomfort of passing by these establishments while shopping, nor to the potential that people buying these items will use them immediately after the purchase."
Commending the supervisors and the police department for their efforts, Spota explained that Mustafa Nayci of Coram has been charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree for the illegal knives that county police found in stock at his Gotham Smoke Shop stores in Middle Island and Huntington. Roula Souleiman of Port Jefferson, an employee of the smoke shop, has also been charged with misdemeanor weapons possession and will appear in court later this month.
"We're seeing more and more gas stations, delis and convenience stores in our communities selling devices and paraphernalia used to consume illegal drugs such as marijuana and cocaine," Spota said. "This stuff is increasingly available in retail environments where you would never expect to find it."
In addition to the Gotham Smoke Shop stores, the other retailers from which paraphernalia was seized are Shirley Express Convenience on William Floyd Parkway, Handy Dandy Food Store in Mastic Beach, Ocean Gas Station in Shirley, Bellport Quick Stop Deli on Station Road and Utopia in Centereach.
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