Seven Arrested for Selling Tobacco Products to Minors

Cathedral City Police Department Keeps Pressure on Retailers Who Sell Tobacco Products to Minors

CATHEDRAL CITY — Police in this community are keeping an ever-watchful eye out for merchants to sell tobacco products to minors with seven arrests made last week.

In 2024, the Cathedral City Police Department was awarded a grant from the California Department of Justice to conduct tobacco sale education and enforcement operations throughout the city. In December 2024, Cathedral City Police Officers conducted a retailer education operation, which focused on the sale of flavored tobacco products and tobacco retail sale signage.

On April 9, Cathedral City Police Officers conducted a follow-up operation targeting retailers selling tobacco products to minors, including flavored tobacco and nicotine vaporizers (“vapes”). Officers visited 36 tobacco retailers in Cathedral City and arrested seven people for selling tobacco products to a minor “decoy” (a Cathedral City Police Department employee under the age of 21).

Five of the seven products sold to the “decoy” were illegal flavored nicotine vaporizers.

The Cathedral City Police Department will continue to use the Department of Justice’s grant resources to engage in tobacco sale education and enforcement operations throughout 2025-2026.

If you have any information about illegal tobacco sales in Cathedral City, please contact Cathedral City Police Sergeant Rick Osborne at (760) 202-2448 or [email protected]

You may also contact the Cathedral City Police Department at (760) 770-0300; or via the Cathedral City Police Department website at: cathedralcitypolice.com; or email [email protected] . You may also report information anonymously through Coachella Valley Crime Stoppers, by calling (760) 341-STOP; or through the WeTip hotline at: 1-(800)-78-CRIME or WWW.WETIP.com . Some tip information may qualify for a cash reward.