Crime & Safety

Up in Smoke: Tobacco Store Busted For Bongs

Authorities say Madison Street store sold pipes, bongs and other paraphernalia.

The manager of a River Forest tobacco store is facing criminal charges after authorities claimed merchandise from the small Madison Street storefront promotes illicit drug use.

Chriagkumar B. Patel, 28, was charged with misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and the sale of a novelty lighters, authorities said.

The charges come after police received a tip May 20 that Puff's Discount Cigarettes, 7556 W. Madison St., was selling items like water bongs and pipes. An undercover officer visited the store days later and confirmed that the items "could not be construed as usable for anything except the ingestion of illicit substances."

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More than 100 items were then confiscated from the store, including small baggies, pipes and grinders, according to a news release. Additionally, Patel was charged with violating a new state law that bans so-called "novelty lighters," which often resemble children's toys.

Patel, of Carol Stream, will appear in Maywood court on June 17.

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A recent visit to the store, which sells cigarettes, cigars and lotto tickets in addition to snacks, showed the store also sells hookahs and ashtrays behind a glass counter with a warning pasted on the front: For Tobacco Use Only.

An employee there said police didn't offer any warnings before removing the items from the store and charging its manager a day later.

Police say they're simply "trying hard to protect the youth of our community from the harmful affects of illicit drugs.

"A child could simply have walked in to the store, hoping to buy candy and while walking to the check out counter, they would have been exposed to numerous items commonly used to ingest illegal substances," River Forest Police Sgt. Gregory Weiss said in a statement.


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