The items sat on store displays near junk food and jerky, packaged under the names “Scooby Snax Remix” and “Strawberry Smash.”
The products feature obnoxiously loud coloring and are advertised as herbal incense or aroma therapy.
But they allegedly contain ingredients that have been illegal in Connecticut since 2011, after reports surfaced people were smoking them because they allegedly give a high similar to marijuana.
The Ansonia arrests come after local police teamed with employees from the Department of Revenue Services to conduct compliance checks Dec. 17 at the GQ Mart on Hill Street and the Brothers Mini-Mart on North Main Street.
While the product is often referred to as synthetic, the law treats it no different than traditional marijuana.
So the GQ Mart’s owner, Mohamed Masikh, 25, of Brooklyn, was charged with illegal sale of marijuana, possession of marijuana within 1,500 feet of a school or daycare, possession of more than 4 ounces of marijuana and possession within 15 feet of a school with intent to sell.
Masikh told the Valley Indy he’s owned the store for three years and had no idea the products were illegal.
“A guy got them from a 99 cent store and brought in that stuff. I don’t know about them being illegal. They are at stores everywhere,” he said.
One of Masikh’s employees, Waleed Alteshee, 22, of Brooklyn, was also arrested. He’s charged with the illegal sale of marijuana, possession within 1,500 feet of a school, possession of more than 4 ounces of marijuana and possession within 1,500 feet of a school with intent to sell.
Both are scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Derby Jan. 2, 2014.
Masikh was apologetic Thursday, and was not looking forward to his court date.
“I’m going to go to court and I’m not looking to do anything that’s not legal,” he said. “I’m going to be more careful.”
Police said the store popped onto their radar after officers received reports of suspicious activity — namely, increased foot traffic.
Authorities also found “numerous” cartons of cigarettes marked with allegedly fraudulent tax stamps. A separate investigation is ongoing, police said in a prepared statement.
Lt. Andrew Cota, the spokesman for the Ansonia Police Department, said the cigarettes were probably being sold cheaper than the market rate, which would explain the spike in customers noticed by others in the neighborhood.
Similar accusations were made against Salah Jibran, 26, who works at the Brothers Mini-Mart on North Main Street. He is charged with the illegal sale of marijuana and is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 2. He also allegedly stocked the synthetic marijuana.
Then authorities checking on 3 Way Media, a store on Maple Street, allegedly found more than 2,000 bootleg movies. Titles weren’t available Thursday, as the inventory list was still being prepared.
“They were copies of movies that were still in theaters. They weren’t in regular containers and appeared to be burned copies of movies,” Cota said.
The investigation into 3 Way Media is continuing and charges are forthcoming, police said.
“We were getting a lot of complaints to our anti-crime unit that there was a lot of different activities happening at these different stores,” Cota said.
The compliance checks and the arrests were conducted with the cooperation of the Ansonia police anti-crime unit, the department’s detective division and the state Department of Revenue Service.
