Fresno receives $1.4 million grant to combat illegal tobacco sales

The City of Fresno should person the backing from the authorities by the caller year.

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The California Department of Justice is awarding the City of Fresno $1.4 cardinal to ace down connected amerciable baccy income astatine fume shops.

The metropolis announcing staggering numbers Monday regarding however galore shops are successful adjacent proximity to schools.

"85 percent of schools successful Fresno are wrong a 1000 feet of a fume shop," said metropolis lawyer Andrew Janz.

That's 133 of the 155 schools successful the city.

Janz said the bulk of those fume shops are selling flavored baccy products, which are amerciable successful the authorities of California, adding galore of the shops are repetition offenders.

Now with assistance from the state, the metropolis plans to spell beyond conscionable holding store owners accountable.

"I besides person a connection for spot owners who lease their abstraction to amerciable operators: If you proceed to let your tenants to run illegally, we volition proceed to issues you fines and spot liens connected your property," said Janz.

The assistance wealth volition money much than 300 constabulary and codification enforcement inspections implicit the adjacent 3 years, respective decoy operations, and retailer acquisition sessions.

"Out of each the inspections that we've done implicit the past year, 85 percent of those inspections person yielded amerciable tobacco," said Janz.

That includes flavored vape products and unregulated cannabis.

The Fresno Police Department said the shops besides pull different amerciable behavior.

"We've recovered pack members, guns, different types of illicit drugs successful these locations, adjacent fentanyl successful immoderate cases.. which we each cognize however deadly that tin be," said Chief Mindy Casto.

The backing from the authorities should beryllium present by the caller year.

That's erstwhile much wide operations are acceptable to begin.

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