3 Stores Caught Allegedly Selling Cigarettes to Minors

Employees at three stores in Calabasas were caught allegedly selling cigarettes to minors during a sting operation conducted by the local sheriff's station on March 30, several months after all local tobacco product retailers passed the same inspection.

Clerks at the local and failed to check for an ID when an undercover tried to buy a pack of Marlboro Lights, while a worker at the on Las Virgenes Road examined a minor's ID but sold the pack anways, according to a deputy's report.

Each time a transaction was completed, a Station deputy entered the story and cited the employee.

In 2009, the City Council implemented an undercover operation that's conducted three times a year to check if all of the 14 stores permitted to sell tobacco products in Calabasas card minors.

City policy states that businesses that are first time violators can be fined $1,000 and have their license to sell cigarettes revoked for three months.

During the previous inspection last December, all businesses passed the inspection and only two were cited for all of 2011.

"I am extremely disappointed to learn about these violations," said Mayor Mary Sue Maurer. "We have zero tolerance for the sale of tobacco products to Calabasas minors and hopefully the violating businesses will be more diligent in the future."