NYC’s illegal smoke shops’ possible ties to terrorism could be revealed under new ‘LLC Transparency’ law
NY Post
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill last month that could help probe possible ties between terrorist networks and New York City’s illegal smoke shops — but a legislative compromise to delay implementation for three years is throwing up a major hurdle, sources told The Post.
Hochul in the final days of 2023 signed the LLC Transparency Act, which gives law enforcement the right to stop any limited liability company, known as an LLC, from doing business in New York that does not disclose the identity of its owner.
While proponents of the new law have mainly been looking to crack down on bum landlords, some experts say it also could aid a much-needed clampdown on terrorist networks — including Houthi rebels in Yemen who lately have been attacking cargo ships in the Red Sea.
“Many of us suspect there are international links,” State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who co-sponsored the legislation, said of the smoke shops. “We don’t know if they are fronts for terror organizations like the Houthis but we have seen stranger uses for money laundering.”
Hoylman-Sigal said he discussed the terrorism concerns in December with Hochul’s office.
As reported by The Post, some New York lawmakers fret that the city’s fast-growing chains of marijuana shops — spanning as many as 8,000 locations, according to a city council estimate — could be a source of cash for Middle East terror groups including the Houthis and Hezbollah. Most of the smoke shops are listed as LLCs.
