Authorities raided two illegal marijuana dispensaries on Staten Island this week, including one that contained a secret staircase that led officers to an underground illicit stash house, witnessed by The Washington Post.
New York City sheriff’s deputies and officers found hundreds of neatly organized packages of cannabis products in the dingy basement of Richmond Discount & Accessories in New Springville, including individually wrapped marijuana buds, jars of THC concentrate, 1,000-milligram pouches of Sour Belt edibles and Pac-Man-brand vape pens.
“It’s a machine,” Sergeant Craig McCosker of the city sheriff’s office said of the raid Wednesday, which resulted in a $33,800 fine and padlocked lock-down.
“They’re selling volume.”
A joint task force made up of the city’s sheriff’s department, NYPD and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection also raided the Nightcap Megastore, a sprawling complex stocked with vials of rolling tobacco, colorful jars filled with cannabis flower and cannabis-infused cookies.
“We’ve got to keep an eye on these guys,” said Mayor Adams, who was present during the Nightcap raid.
“We will do our utmost to close down these illegal stores.”
Following the raid on Nightcap, authorities seized $19,000 worth of cannabis products and unlicensed tobacco products, padlocked the store and levied a $25,000 fine, according to the mayor’s office.
The store’s owner, former NYPD officer Michael Rizzi, 52, was also arrested on suspicion of unlawful possession of a weapon after dozens of brass knuckle guns were found during the search, an NYPD spokesman said.
“We’re finding guns, we’re finding drugs, we’re finding mushrooms, we’re finding hallucinogens,” Sheriff Anthony Miranda said. Rizzi, who sat expressionless inside the store during the search, declined to be interviewed by The Washington Post.
There are only 57 licensed dispensaries in New York, and law enforcement has struggled to eradicate the roughly 3,400 illegal marijuana shops since the state legalized recreational marijuana in 2021.
Albany earlier this year gave officials new tools to crack down on illegal marijuana sellers, including the power to padlock illegal smoke shops for up to a year immediately after inspection.
Since then, the task force has shut down 535 illegal stores, seized $17.5 million worth of illegal cannabis products and assessed more than $43 million in civil penalties, the mayor’s office announced.
“Now we have expanded authority and the impact is already being felt throughout the city,” Miranda said.
“Some stores are closing down on their own. Sometimes landlords are taking action themselves.”
Miranda said after inspecting the storefront, authorities will investigate further, scrutinizing shipping documents and fake licenses to uncover potential links to other illegal stores.
“There’s constant follow-up and financial investigations going on to see who is behind these places, how involved are they in the cannabis business,” he said.
Miranda said this week’s raids meant that all 173 illegal smoking establishments on Staten Island have been inspected by authorities and 32 have been padlocked so far, to the delight of local residents.
“People are trying to make money, but they have to do it legally,” Ella Cucullo, 72, a retired waitress, told The Post outside the Richmond Discount & Accessories store.
The Nightcap announced on its Instagram page on Friday afternoon that it had been raided but vowed to “reopen soon.”
