Williamsburg vape store owner’s drug, gun charges certified to grand jury

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (WAVY) — A judge certified drug and gun charges against a Williamsburg vape shop owner to a grand jury Thursday.

That development in the case came almost four months after police raided the home and businesses belonging to Islam Sbaih.

It was part of an extensive investigation into the sale of illegal marijuana products and the sale of nicotine products to minors.

Sbaih, who ran Paradise Tobacco & Vape at 1457 Richmond Rd and Alpha Smoke Shop at 226 Monticello Ave, is facing charges of possession of a gun with narcotics, distribution of schedule 1 or 2 drugs, distribution of marijuana and displaying a firearm while selling 1 lb. of marijuana.

He appeared in the courtroom for the preliminary hearing with an interpreter translating the proceedings. He’s being represented by former State Senate Majority/Minority leader Tommy Norment, who advocated for a level of marijuana decriminalization while in office.

The investigation

Court documents show that Williamsburg police began investigating area tobacco stores in July 2023, after they received complaints that minors were being sold nicotine products, and they found evidence that illegal marijuana products were being sold.

According to a sworn police statement, every store they investigated, which included Alpha and Paradise, was found to be “out of compliance.”

In October of 2023, Williamsburg Police were contacted by an investigator with the Henrico County Police Department who had connected a string of drug incidents in his area to Alpha Smoke Shop.

“[The investigator] advised that a person had purchased behind-the-counter edible products and later provided them to a younger sibling who shared them with friends,” the statement reads. “As a result, four juveniles overdosed on the edible products.”

Law enforcement agencies, including WPD, would continue to investigate the stores for several months, finding that they were selling illegal marijuana products on multiple occasions.

A search warrant affidavit related to the investigation notes that an employee of Alpha “previously warned an undercover law enforcement officer of the strength and intoxicating effects of marijuana edible products.”

In late March, they raided the two stores as well as Sbaih’s home. Court documents show what they recovered.

From Alpha: 124 bottles of Tianeptine (AKA “gas station heroin”) , one pound of marijuana, 15.84 grams of pure THC and two suspected psilocybin chocolate bars.

From Paradise: 169 bottles of Tianeptine, 4 ounces of pure THC, 2.5 ounces of marijuana and about 30 9mm and 5.56 rounds.

From Sbaih’s home in James City County: 89 suspected psilocybin bars, 8.6 ounces of pure THC, 1.26 lbs of marijuana, three rifles, a shotgun, three handguns and $20,000 in cash.

During the preliminary hearing, Norment sought to remove the guns from the legal equation, confirming that the officer who executed the search warrant, who took the stand, was aware that Sbaih’s brother-in-law potentially owned some of the firearms that were stored in his house.

He also confirmed that Sbaih told officers he didn’t know the combination to the safe in his home, which police eventually broke open, but his wife did.

Norment also asked the investigating officer on the stand if he took a “quantum leap” in connecting the guns they found, which weren’t at either of the stores, to the distribution of drugs.

A possible history of violence

During the investigation, police interviewed a contractor who had done work on Sbaih’s house and said he’d had to stop after receiving deadly threats. He told police Sbaih had asked him to construct “a small concrete compartment” in his floor to store guns.

“[The contractor] advised Sbaih told [him] he had killed people in other countries including Mexico; that Sbaih had previously hired a corrupt Mexican police officer to kill a man who had failed to get him his drug supply; that Sbaih knew where [he] and his children lived and that He’d f— him up,” according to the sworn police statement.

The next step in this case is for the grand jury to decide whether or not to send the charges against Sbaih to the Circuit Court.

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