Underage Alcohol & Tobacco Sweep Leads To Four Arrests, Per PD

ELMONT, NY — Four men were arrested across Nassau County Thursday after underaged county police agents were able to buy alcohol and tobacco products from them at stores in Franklin Square and Elmont, police said.

Nassau County police said they conducted a “Project 21” initiative Thursday, targeting individuals selling alcohol and tobacco products to underage buyers with the help of “underage agents.”

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The project 21 initiative led to the arrests of 27-year-old Elmont resident Mujahid Khan, 25-year-old Franklin Square resident Davinder Singh, 23-year-old Valley Stream resident Yash Patel and 45-year-old Bethpage resident Vipul Patel, police said.

During the project 21, Khan was found to have sold flavored tobacco to an underage agent at a smoke and cigar shop on Franklin Avenue in Franklin Square, with police finding banned items on display in the store, police said. Police did not say what banned items were discovered inside the smoke shop, but said that Khan is charged with second-degree unlawfully dealing with a child, two counts of sale of tobacco products and other violations.

Also arrested as a result of the project 21 was Singh, who sold an alcoholic beverage to an underage agent at a liquor store on Hempstead Turnpike in Elmont, police said. For that, Singh is facing charges of first-degree unlawfully dealing with a child and prohibited sale of an alcoholic beverage, police said.

In the third arrest, Yash Patel sold an alcoholic beverage to an underage agent at a deli on Meacham Avenue in Elmont, where additional banned items were discovered after the fact, police said. Patel is charged with first-degree unlawfully dealing with a child and prohibited sale of an alcoholic beverage, police said.

Finally, 45-year-old Vipul Patel, manager of the deli where Yash Patel sold the beverage, was arrested and charged with operating a disorderly premise, a violation under alcohol beverage control law, police said.

Police said all four men were given appearance tickets, returnable to the first district court, and released.