New York prosecutor begins crackdown on illegal cannabis shops with US$400K deal with shop owner

NEW YORK –

A New York City entrepreneur who illegally offered marijuana at a dozen retailers throughout Manhattan should pay greater than US$400,000 in taxes and proceeds from illicit gross sales of hashish, as a part of a crackdown on the hundreds of unlicensed operations throughout town.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office introduced Tuesday that business proprietor Rami Alzandani wouldn’t face litigation as a part of a non-prosecution settlement. He can maintain his shops open however can now not promote hashish merchandise.

The state of New York’s Office of Cannabis Management has now issued greater than 250 licences for entrepreneurs to open storefronts to promote hashish in all of its kinds, together with edibles, flowers and vapes.

Azandani should pay US$103,000 in restitution to the state Department of Tax and Finance and should additionally forfeit an extra $300,000 in unlawful proceeds, the district legal professional’s workplace stated.

Last month, Gov. Kathy Hochul introduced the seizure of US$11 million value of illicit merchandise from 33 storefronts throughout a current sweep of unlicensed shops in New York City, Ithaca and Binghamton.

Since New York legalized leisure marijuana two years in the past, comparatively few of the shops which have obtained licences to function have opened, permitting illicit retailers to proceed to prosper.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg stated that public security is undermined “when there is such a huge proliferation of unlicensed and unregulated storefronts selling cannabis products that have not been properly inspected.”

His workplace stated that it’s pursuing different prison investigations and is “in active conversations” with landlords to evict retailers in violation of state legislation.