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The bust started on Monday, Dec. 11 at approximately 5:30 p.m., according to Nassau County Police.
Using underage agents working with the Problem Oriented Policing (POP) Unit, officers went to stores in Franklin Square and West Hempstead as part of “Project 21,” meant to target the sale of illicit products to minors.
At the Smoke Shop located at 727 Franklin Avenue, Akil Hossain, age 21 of Elmont, was arrested for allegedly selling tobacco products to minors.
Then, down the street at LI Smoker’s Depot (located at 700 Franklin Avenue), 26-year-old Jose Sandoval of the Bronx is said to have done the same.
The last Franklin Square stop was the Kenia Deli located at 179 Franklin Avenue.
There, police arrested 23-year-old Maria M Napoles Abad of Franklin Square for selling alcohol to a minor.
Kenia Deli’s manager, Franklin Square resident Miguel A Baez Rodriguez, age 52, was arrested when officers reportedly discovered he had gambling devices on the property.
Furthermore, the State Liquor Authority and the Town of Hempstead Code Enforcement closed Kenia Deli.
The following two people were nabbed in West Hempstead:
- Keerthik Puppanagirimanygsh, age 28 of Uniondale, was arrested for selling tobacco products at the Smoke Depot located at 177 Hempstead Avenue
- Dheeraj K Dixit, age 55 of West Hempstead, was also arrested for selling tobacco to minors at Best Smoke Shop, located at 162 Hempstead Turnpike
All six people taken into custody were issued a reappearance ticket to Hempstead’s First District Court on Thursday, Dec. 28.
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