2 Gloucester Twp. Smoke Shops Illegally Sold Drugs; Owner, 2 Workers Charged: PD

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — Three people face charges after two Gloucester Township smoke shops illegally sold substances, including marijuana and untaxed tobacco products, police said Thursday.

Authorities executed search warrants Tuesday afternoon on both retail locations — "Exotic smoke shop" (1234 Chews Landing Rd., Clementon) and "Vape smoke shop" (408 E Church St., Blackwood). The owner of both shops and two employees were charged as a result.

The searches followed a month-long investigation into illegal drug sales, officials said. Officers seized large quantities of raw packaged marijuana, marijuana edibles, marijuana vape cartridges, nitrous oxide canisters and thousands of untaxed tobacco products, according to township police.

Owner Abdo Saeed, 28, of Wilmington, Delaware, was charged with the following: leading a narcotics trafficking network, manufacturing/distributing controlled dangerous substances (CDS) in the vicinity of a park, money laundering, distribution of CDS paraphernalia, sale of a device to defraud administration of law, sale of a toxic chemical (nitrous oxide), and maintaining a nuisance.

Employees Ebrahim Alzabidi and Munzer Azafari — both New York City residents — were each charged with selling a device to defraud the administration of law.

The following also assisted with the search: the Winslow Township and Clayton Borough police departments and agents from the New Jersey Department of the Treasury, Division of Taxation, Office of Criminal Investigation Unit.

Anyone with additional information can contact the Gloucester Township Police Department at 856-228-4500, or call our GTPD Anonymous Crime Tip Line at 856-842-5560. To send the GTPD an anonymous tip via text message, text the keyword TIP GLOTWPPD and your tip message to 888777. You can also send an anonymous tip online.