Crime & Safety

All Village's Tobacco Dealers Pass Test

Montgomery Police conducted a sting on Saturday of all 13 tobacco retailers, and found none of them willing to sell cigarettes to an underage customer.

Three months after catching nearly half of the village’s tobacco dealers selling cigarettes to underage customers, the conducted another sting operation. And this time, all 13 tobacco license holders passed with flying colors.

According to Montgomery Det. Sgt. Greg Sullivan, the most recent sting, conducted on Saturday from 11 a.m. to noon, was the second of three paid for by a state grant. As they did last time, police enlisted the services of a teenage “police tobacco youth agent,” who asked to buy cigarettes at all 13 of the village’s tobacco dealers.

All of them asked to see identification, and then refused to sell, Sullivan said

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It is illegal to sell tobacco to anyone under 18. The sting was conducted via the state’s Kids Can’t Buy ‘Em Here program, administered by the Illinois Liquor Control Commission.  

This is a much different result than police saw last time tobacco dealers were tested. In February, police caught six of the 13 stores selling cigarettes to their “youth agent,” and served the employees who sold those cigarettes with notices to appear in court.

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“We are very proud of our tobacco retailers,” Sullivan said. “We are very proud to say ‘Kids Can’t Buy ‘Em Here’ in Montgomery.”


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