Several million dollars' worth of illegal marijuana products found in NYC warehouse. Here's the latest.
NEW YORK -- Investigators say what started as a reported burglary in Brooklyn on Saturday morning turned into the discovery of an enormous amount of illegal drugs.
At around 5:30 a.m. law enforcement responded to an unmarked warehouse at 63 Adelphi St. in Fort Greene, in a residential area right by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. New York City Sheriff's Office deputies were later seen confiscating illegal marijuana products that the Mayor's Office said were headed to bodegas and illegal cannabis shops that have been popping up all over the five boroughs.
The NYPD, which is partnering with the Sheriff's Office in pursuing illegal marijuana operations, is now trying to track down the warehouse owner.
Sheriff's Office deputies said recent legislation passed at the state level has made it easier to shut down these types of places.
What law enforcement found
Unlike the products from licensed, legal dispensaries, nothing found in the warehouse is regulated, investigators said.
"There are THC vapes. There's THC gummies, THC flower, pre-rolls. There's several million dollars' worth of product packaged for distribution throughout the city of New York," said Maureen Kokeas of the Sheriff's Office.
"Some of it could be coming from legal states, illegally, illegally diverted from states who are authorized to grow product. We know some of it comes from overseas that is completely illegal product and we don't even know what's in it," Kokeas added, when asked where the product came from.
Kokeas was asked for her initial reaction when seeing the haul.
"I think that the Sheriff's Office and the NYPD and our task force members will be very happy. This is going to be off the streets," she said.
Were the products targeting children?
CBS New York's Derick Waller was allowed inside to take some video of all the different products being stored. Visible were some items that were brightly colored with funny names, almost as if they're marketed toward children. The packaging was bright and colorful, with names like "Gorilla Glue" and "Thin Mints." One box of vape pens showed a cartoon grandma lighting up and a container of infused joints was topped with a fake neon goo.
"It looks like candy. It looks like slime, yeah, things that my kids play with," neighbor and parent Khadine Barakat said.
"It makes me very, very angry and I'm very curious about what's gonna happen, how they're gonna shut this down to protect the children of Brooklyn," parent Gigi Garcia Russo said.
What's clear is a lot of people who live in the area had no idea what was going on in the warehouse. One neighbor said she thought the building was abandoned for years, while another said they thought a restaurant was moving in.