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In response to numerous community complaints, Suffolk County Police Second Precinct Crime Section officers, along with Community Support Unit officers, conducted an investigation during which 20 businesses were checked for compliance with the law.
During the investigation, eight businesses were found to be selling marijuana products, vapes, or e-cigarettes to minors.
Two of the businesses -- Smoke Bazaar Smoke Shop N’ Vape, located at 526 Walt Whitman Road in Melville, and Smokeez Smoke Shop, located at 324 Larkfield Road in East Northport --had employees cited for selling vapes and e-cigarettes in 2022, Suffolk County Police said.
The following people were charged with criminal sale of cannabis, a misdemeanor:
- Ak Serhat, age 28, of Huntington, an employee of Smoke Bazaar Smoke Shop N’ Vape, located at 526 Walt Whitman Road in Melville.
- Jefrey Mejia-Villeda, age 23, of Jamaica, Queens, an employee of Smokeez Smoke Shop, located at 324 Larkfield Road in East Northport.
The following people were charged with unlawfully dealing with a child, a misdemeanor:
- Sajjad Hussain, age 52, of Huntington, an employee of RK Cigar and Smoke, located at 824 East Jericho Turnpike in Huntington Station.
- Somesh Dhawan, age 35, of Hauppauge, an employee of Evolve Smoke Shop, located at 2066 Jericho Turnpike in East Northport.
- Deepak Mehta, age 43, of Bethpage, an employee of 76 Gas, located at 1714 New York Ave. in Huntington Station.
- Arvindbhai Patel, age 37, of Flushing, Queens, an employee of Jericho Beer & Smoke Convenience, located at 1058 East Jericho Turnpike in Huntington
- Charles Spinella, age 20, of Kings Park, an employee of Legacy Smoke Shop, located at 39 Larkfield Road in East Northport.
- A 17-year-old female employee of Nirvana Vape Smoke, located at 1153A East Jericho Turnpike in Huntington.
All eight will appear in court at a later date.
Compliance checks were conducted at 12 other businesses in the Second Precinct with no violations found. Five of those 12 businesses had been cited for violations in 2022.
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