7 plus eatontown

The owner of this Eatontown convenience store was charged with several offenses Thursday after police said they discovered he was distributing drugs from his Main Street shop.

(Rob Spahr / NJ.com)

EATONTOWN – The owner of a Main Street convenience store was charged with several offenses Thursday after authorities said they discovered he was distributing drugs from his shop.

A three-month investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Department, the state Division of Taxation and the Eatontown Police Department uncovered that “large quantities” of synthetic marijuana were being sold out of 7 Plus Convenience Store, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni announced Friday.

Authorities said 71-year-old borough resident Mahmoud Salim Alsoub sold synthetic marijuana, known as K-2, from the convenience store at 10 Main Street, which is about a block away from the Eatontown Police Department.

The drug was stored out of the view of store patrons, but when patrons entered the store and asked for the substance by a “code word,” Alsoub would retrieve the drug and sell it to them, Eatontown Police Chief Michael Goldfarb said in a release.

Police did not release what the code word was.

Alsoub was arrested on Thursday and charged with two counts each of Distribution of a Controlled Dangerous Substance and of Possession of a Controlled Dangerous Substance with Intent to Distribute within 500 feet of a park, police said.

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Detectives seized a large amount of cash and merchandise Alsoub illegally purchased out of state for resale in the store, police said.

The state Division of Taxation additionally charged Alsoub with 12 counts of Failure to File a Tax Return, one count of Failure to Maintain Books/Records and one count of Failure to Collect State Sales Tax.

Alsoub was processed at the Eatontown Police Department and then lodged in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold Township in lieu of $50,000 bail with no 10-percent option as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Richard English.