NYC Sheriff's Office, NYPD seize $10M in illegal cannabis products during Bronx bust

NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — Law enforcement seized millions of dollars worth of illegal cannabis products and psilocybin mushrooms from a large after hours social club in the Bronx early Sunday morning during a raid conducted as part of “Operation Padlock to Protect.”

At about 1 a.m., the NYC Sheriff’s Office and NYPD executed a search warrant at 516 Timpson Place in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx after receiving a series of complaints from residents.

“This is a location that was given to us, information received from the community,” NYC Sheriff Anthony Miranda said in a video from the scene. “We actually had got a search warrant for this location, and this is one location that takes up almost half a city block, a little bit more.”

Miranda told 1010 WINS/WCBS 880 that the product seized—which he estimates is worth more than $10 million—includes 1,200 pounds of cannabis flower and another 200 pounds of mushroom product, among a number of other products and packaging. He also noted that the hallucinogens are a felony.

Many of the products, which Miranda said were unregulated and untested, were packaged as chocolate or candy.

“These are the health hazards. These are packaging toward our children,” Miranda told 1010 WINS/WCBS 880. “Nothing here says that this is for adult consumption. This is targeting a younger population of people that use these products.”

Video from the warehouse shows the expanse of the social club, including a storage space in the back of the building that housed some of the hundreds of pounds of product. NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said that a shotgun was also recovered from that storage area.

“This was definitely not just a social club. They had spaces for people to use the product inside. They apparently held parties inside as well,” Miranda said.
“So they had locations that were attached to each other. So it's a multifaceted operation with multiple ways that they were distributing the product.”

Officials said that the operation was “doing a little bit of everything,” which entails selling product directly, distributing it out to other locations and packaging from within the location.

There are currently no arrests as the investigation continues, police said.

Operation Padlock to Protect —which gives local law enforcement agencies the ability to inspect smoke and cannabis shops and padlock those operating illegally—was launched by Mayor Eric Adams earlier this year.

“We’re going to keep going after spots like this. It goes to show you, it’s more than just the places where the signs are located,” Mayor Eric Adams told reporters at the scene of the bust Sunday morning. “It’s hidden in every part of our city and communities. And we’re going to find it, we’re going to destroy it, we’re going to apprehend those involved.”

Adams also went on to thank the community for providing law enforcement with tips about the illegal activity, calling the bust a “joint operation with the community.”

“You see the packages everywhere, so it’s hard to tell the difference,” Davina, whose mother lives down the block from where the bust took place, told 1010 WINS/WCBS 880.

Davina said that she has seen the youth-oriented packaging around the area, and that her mother is “very glad” about the raid.

“This is what the community is complaining about,” Miranda said. “And this is also what has a devastating impact on the legal market to be able to develop and service the community properly.”