"Operation Smoke" at Cafe Daze resulted in arrests for underage drinking and smoking.
HALEDON - Police following up on complaints of underage drinking and smoking arrested 10 people at a local hookah lounge, authorities said Monday.
Nearly two dozen police officers conducted "Operation Smoke" on Cafe Daze on Haledon Avenue between 7 p.m. and 2 a.m. on April 1, according to Lt. George Guzman Jr. of the Haledon Police Department.
"The operation consisted of surveillance by our detective bureau followed by an unannounced spot check at Cafe Daze," Guzman said.
Six were charged with underage drinking:
- Melvin Tejada, 19, of Prospect Park
- Jose Cordero, 19, of Passaic
- Gretchen Garcia, 19, of Haledon
- Kenneth Guardia, 18, of Clifton
- Amanda Gonzales, 19, of Haledon
- Darshan Patel, 20, of Bergenfield
Another person at the lounge, Andrew Manley, 25, of Englewood, was found to have a $3,000 criminal warrant and arrested, Guzman said.
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Police also charged three owners of the business with serving or offering alcohol to minors, maintaining a nuisance, sale of tobacco products to persons under 19 and with violating borough ordinances of maintaining smoke detectors and sale/offer of tobacco products to person under 21.
The owners were identified as:
- Chintan Patel, 29, of Paramus
- Mayank Rana, 21, of Passaic
- Darshil Patel, 22, of Elmwood Park
Guzman said the lounge does not have a license to serve liquor. "It's BYOB," he said.
All were released on summonses pending a court date in Haledon Municipal Court. The man with the warrant posted bail and was released, Guzman said.
"We expect all of our businesses to remain in compliance with state laws and local ordinances. Our officers did a tremendous job conducting this detail," Haledon Police Chief Angelo Daniele said in a statement.
Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.