YORK COUNTY, Va. — Following a raid of a tobacco store in York County last week, Sheriff Ron Montgomery of the York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office said two employees could face possible civil penalties and criminal charges.
On Sep. 15, YPSO deputies surrounded the York Finest Tobacco and Vape store off George Washington Memorial Highway. It came amid community concerns and tips that underage kids were getting their hands on products from inside the store.
“An investigation of illegal sales of tobacco products to underage people that generated most of the complaints, but also we know they were selling illegal drugs as well, the sale of marijuana," Sheriff Montgomery said.
According to a later published news release, among the items found were:
- Delta-8 blunts
- 26 container of pre-packaged marijuana
- 84 liquid THC packages
- Synthetic marijuana
“We have come across products no longer legal to be sold in Virginia between July 1 and now. But this is the first time we’ve been able to link it bank to a particular store," Sheriff Montgomery said.
The raid comes several months after Virginia's new hemp regulations took effect, implementing THC limits and ratios on hemp-derived products as well as outright banning synthetically derived products.
The new laws, aimed at reducing the accessibility of these products to kids and the general public, have been criticized by advocates within the hemp industry as being too restrictive.
Since July 1, Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services have cited roughly a dozen businesses across Virginia for not adhering to the reporting and product guidelines set, resulting in civil citations worth tens of thousands of dollars.
In Hampton Roads, at least three tobacco businesses have been cited, including the first in Chesapeake and two others in Williamsburg.
According to a VDACS spokesperson, the agency did not initiate the sweep of this particular tobacco shop. However, Sheriff Montgomery told 13News Now that his investigators are now working in tandem with VDACS personnel to see if the products they seized are cause for civil penalties as well.
"There are a fair number of these shops in York County. From what I can gather from representatives from the state, the agents they have assigned to this is fairly limited. They have large territories," Montgomery said.
“As we move forward, it's going to be important for VDACS to develop this relationship with agencies like ours, because we’re out here every day. If we know each other and have contact with each other, we're more familiar with these products they're levying fines for," Montgomery said.
The owner of the tobacco shop did not respond back for comment on this story.