DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A Daytona Beach store owner was arrested Tuesday on allegations of selling nitrous oxide and teaching others how to huff it.
Officials said they arrested Yohan Cohen, the owner of Purple Haze, a specialty shop located at 2250 S. Atlantic Ave., after an investigation into the illegal distribution of nitrous oxide for the purposes of inhalation.
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Officials said the investigation started when officers found three men huffing nitrous oxide from balloons in the parking lot across the street from the store last week. The men told the officers that they purchased the items at Purple Haze, where an employee of the store explained how to use the equipment to inhale the gas.
Officials said undercover officers went to Purple Haze, where the store's owner and another employee sold them the gas canisters and the paraphernalia used to inhale it and provided instructions on how to use balloons to trap the gas.
Officials said the following day, one of the officers returned to the store and told Cohen that she did not feel anything when using the NO2. Cohen told her that meant that she had done it wrong and explained how to use the devices again.
Officials said officers recovered more than $600 worth of nitrous oxide and paraphernalia from the store.
Cohen and Aline Elakayam, the store employee, were arrested and charged with sale of harmful chemicals and possession of drug paraphernalia.