New York City Mayor Eric Adams celebrated what he called his victory on illegal smoke shops in and around the Big Apple Wednesday by destroying more than 8,000 pounds of cannabis products seized in "Operation Padlock."

“We’re going to destroy four tons of cannabis,” Adams said. “We have to stay on top of this because there are so many people who like to participate in this illegal endeavor. We’re going to destroy illegal cannabis in this city. It’s not going to go in our neighborhoods.”

The mayor used a crane to move the more than four tons of these weed products into an incinerator at a facility in just outside New York City where they were then burnt to a crisp.

And For Good Measure, The Ashes Are Turned Into Vapor

“We don’t want it recycled back into the communities. Placing it in a landfill, just really opens the door for them to salvage whatever they can. The goal is the destruction of the product,” Adams said.

Not To Worry, No One Got Stoned At Weed-Burning Party

“No one would be getting high off of what we’re burning today,” Adams said.

Bobby Green, who runs the facility housing the incinerator, explained that a filtration system would “scrub all those fumes,” leaving “about 99.9 percent water vapor.”

The heat from burning the cannabis and other garbage is converted into renewable energy used to power the facility and roughly 65,000 homes on Long Island.

“They have filtering system over 90 something percent is filtered, doesn’t get into the air. So this is a well-organized operation, you know, so if you live in the area, you’re not getting high,” Adams said.

According to a release from the mayor's office, in addition to Adams, New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda, New York City Police Commissioner Edward Caban and New York City's Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga were at the cannabis campfire.

Since the joint law enforcement effort involving the NYPD, the New York City sheriff, and other city and state agencies, Operation Padlock has shut down a thousand operations.

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Photo courtesy of NYC Mayor’s office