Three store employees in West Milford are headed to municipal court after an undercover police operation caught them selling tobacco and vaping products to minors, while a Clifton smoke shop was hit with a raid that seized more than $80,000 worth of THC and suspected mushroom-infused products. The two local enforcement actions, unfolding across Passaic County in recent weeks, have pushed local officials to demand tougher consequences for retailers who keep breaking the law.
In West Milford, police say Yaman Ozturk, an employee at Puff City on Route 23 South in Haskell, along with Kehinde Qudus of the Shell service station on Route 23 in Newfoundland and Sukhdeep Singh of the Delta service station on Marshall Hill Road, were each charged with selling tobacco products to underage customers, according to local police cited by News 12. All three received complaint summonses and court dates in West Milford municipal court. West Milford Mayor Michelle Dale said local businesses must follow the law, especially when it comes to minors and harmful products.
The compliance sweep covered six retail establishments in the township in late August, and three others fully complied with age verification laws, according to News 12 New Jersey. Under New Jersey statute N.J.S.A. 2C:33-13.1, selling tobacco, electronic smoking devices, or cannabis items to anyone under 21 is a petty disorderly persons offense, carrying fines up to $500 that can double for repeat offenders, per William Proetta Criminal Law. That means the clerks face municipal court proceedings rather than felony charges for these initial underage sales. According to NJ.com, three Teaneck business owners were charged in July 2026 with selling nicotine vape products to customers under age 21.
A Bigger Bust in Clifton
The stakes were far higher at Iconic Convenience and Smokes in Clifton, where Passaic County Sheriff's detectives carried out a raid on August 13. Detectives seized over 10 pounds of raw marijuana, 1,666 THC-infused vapes, THC cookies, suspected psilocybin mushrooms, and $3,628 in illegal cash proceeds, according to the Passaic County Sheriff's Office, which said the total haul amounted to more than $80,000 worth of THC and suspected mushroom-infused products. Store owner Sufyan Ammar and employee Adam A. Owda were arrested at the scene, the sheriff's office said.
The joint narcotics investigation that led to the Clifton raid began after quality-of-life complaints from Woodland Park and Little Falls police about local students using marijuana and THC vapes, according to the same account. Those complaints specifically flagged youth access to edibles and vapes packaged in kid-friendly designs. Passaic County Sheriff Thomas Adamo was identified as sheriff in the account, which did not provide further details about his tenure or career.
How State Law Treats Vapes and THC Differently
New Jersey's rules for tobacco, vapes, and THC products come from several distinct statutes. The state has permanently banned the retail sale of flavored e-cigarette products, including menthol and mint, meaning flavored vape sales are prohibited statewide regardless of a customer's age. Separately, hemp loophole legislation approved by New Jersey lawmakers in 2024 limits where hemp-derived products can be sold, making commercial THC sales by unlicensed convenience stores and smoke shops illegal.
That 2024 reform, S3235, placed intoxicating hemp-derived THC products under the Cannabis Regulatory Commission's oversight and gave businesses 30 days to remove products, according to the NJ State Policy Lab. The law also provides for civil penalties for non-licensed hemp sales. The state has also pursued distributors directly: in May, the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs and Attorney General's Office reached a $100,000 consent order against Clifton-based distributor King Distribution LLC and 17 associated smoke shops for selling banned flavored vape products, according to the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. Other vape-related enforcement actions have also been reported.
Mayors Push for Tougher Penalties
Authorities across Passaic County say illegal tobacco and cannabis-related product sales continue to be a problem despite the layered enforcement, and local officials are pushing for tougher consequences for businesses that repeatedly violate the law. Clifton Mayor Raymond Grabowski said stores may do what they can to make money and get people addicted or hooked to THC. He noted that businesses currently just receive fines for violations, and argued that closing businesses after a certain number of fines would be a bigger deterrent.
Under N.J.S.A. 2A:170-51.4, municipalities can already levy civil administrative fines against tobacco retailers, but Grabowski and other local leaders argue that monetary penalties alone amount to a cost of doing business without the threat of mandatory closures for repeat violators. As it stands, civil fines fall on store owners while individual clerks face petty disorderly charges in municipal court, leaving a gap that officials say lets the underlying businesses keep operating.
