Secaucus Vape Store Illegally Sold Pot, Magic Mushrooms, Police Charge

SECAUCUS, NJ — The vape store on Meadowlands Parkway has been illegally selling marijuana and even psychedelic "magic" mushrooms, and an employee of the store was arrested July 26.

It was local Secaucus residents who called police to allege that My Spot Vape and Smoke Shop, at 10 Meadowlands Parkway, was selling marijuana and mushrooms, neither of which the store has a license to sell.

An undercover detective with the Secaucus Police Anti-Crime Unit investigated, and made multiple undercover purchases of marijuana at the store, said Police Chief Dennis Miller.

On July 26, store employee Rajesh Bayyalo, 26, of Jersey City, was arrested at the vape shop and charged with two counts of Possession with intent to Distribute CDS believed to be Marijuana and THC products, two counts of Possession of CDS believed to be Psilocybin (psychedelic mushrooms) [2C:35-10A(5)] and Possession of CDS believed to be Marijuana [2C:35-10A(3)(B)].

The vape shop is right around the corner from where Secaucus' newest marijuana dispensary will be located, Illicit Gardens marijuana dispensary, which is still on track to open at 30 Wood Avenue by the end of the year.

After Harmony dispensary on Castle Road abruptly closed last November — CEO Shaya Brodchandel was sued over allegations of using the store as his "personal piggy bank" — the Secaucus Council expanded the zoning where marijuana can be sold: The town will now allow retail pot to be sold on a five-lot block of 30 Wood Avenue, directly behind Meadowlands Plaza hotel and La Reggia restaurant.

A Missouri-based marijuana store called Illicit Gardens plans to open there, and already signed a lease to rent space at 30 Wood Avenue, as Patch reported in June.

As of Aug. 6, Secaucus town administrator Gary Jeffas said Illicit Gardens is still waiting on permits and licensing from the state before it can open. But they are still moving forward to open at 30 Wood Avenue, he said.

They plan to open before the end of the year. Illicit Gardens bought the marijuana license from Harmony. Illicit Gardens also took over the website for HarmonyNJ.

"We didn’t acquire a company to just sit on a license. We have a responsibility to our investors to try and start to monetize that acquisition as quickly as possible," Illicit chief operating officer Adam Diltz told NJ.com in June.

Mayor Mike Gonnelli said he wants to allow marijuana to be sold in town for the tax revenue. Jeffas said Harmony paid about $275,000 in taxes to the town each year, and Gonnelli hopes Illicit will pay more.

"It's a dead end off Meadowlands Parkway," the mayor told Patch in June. "It's not in the center of town, it's in the outskirts of town. You can spin this any way you want to, but to me, this is about the taxes. We are trying to keep taxes low in this town, and this is about income to the town that we need."

"I am not a pot smoker," the mayor continued. "But I did it for the revenue. It's a lot of money. If you ride down Rt. 17 you're going to start seeing the (pot) stores in Hasbrouck Heights, etc. 'Get off here and buy pot.' I don't see a difference between Castle Road and Wood Avenue."

Secaucus Adds Zone Where Marijuana Can Be Sold, Now Closer to Town (June 2024)