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Two Dublin smoke shops find themselves out of more than 4,000 units of illegal products and in the hole nearly $200,000 in fines combined after recent joint operations by city and state authorities, Dublin Police Services said last week.
Investigators reported confiscating more than $135,000 worth of prohibited products from Royal Novelties and Smoker Friendly – 81 boxes of items such as banned flavored tobacco, illegal THC products and psilocybin mushrooms.
“Citations flew faster than candy on Halloween night. Violations covered everything from unlicensed sales to unauthorized advertising, basically turning these shops into tobacco-themed amusement parks,” Dublin police stated in an Instagram post Sept. 30. “The damage? Nearly $200,000 in fines, because breaking the rules in Dublin isn’t just dumb, it’s very expensive.”
Setting out on the stings in September – “for what can only be described as a smoke shop smackdown” – were DPS’s crime prevention and school resource officer units, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and the city of Dublin’s code enforcement division.
“The mission? Sniff out shops selling illegal goodies to minors and spoiler alert: the squad found way more than just questionable flavors,” police stated. “Turns out, bubblegum-flavored vape juice wasn’t the only thing these shops were blowing smoke about.”
Authorities allegedly seized approximately 4,100 units of illegal products combined from the Royal Novelties Smoke Shop on Amador Valley Boulevard and Smoker Friendly Dublin Smoke Shop on Amador Plaza Road.
“Moral of the story – If you’re gonna sell banned stuff in Dublin, especially to minors, don’t be shocked when the smoke clears and the fines roll in,” police said.
