The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley A Randolph County Sheriff Department patrol unit sits outside the Tobacco & Vapor Outlet at Valley Pointe on the Beverly Five-lane on Tuesday. The store was closed by the RCSO after a search warrant was executed.

ELKINS — Two local vape shops were shuttered by police on Tuesday after law enforcement served a search warrant at one of the businesses and allegedly found illegal drugs.

The Tobacco & Vapor Outlet at Valley Pointe and the Tobacco & Vape Shop on Harrison Avenue were both closed by law enforcement officials on Tuesday. Randolph County Sheriff deputies went to the location on the Beverly Five-lane to execute a warrant in reference to an unrelated crime. While there deputies came across illegal drugs and another warrant was issued, said Randolph County Sheriff Rob Elbon.

“We went in to execute a warrant on a different investigation and in the meantime saw stuff that they shouldn’t be selling,” said Elbon. “So we got another search warrant for the illegal drugs and went back with that.”

According to a criminal complaint filed in Randolph County Magistrate Court, when police entered the store at Valley Pointe they allegedly found a large bag of marijuana in plain view. Officers also located two scales near the register area with marijuana on them and small, clear, plastic baggies.

West Virginia State Police and the Elkins Police Department assisted at the scene where Salman Al Mardai, of Brooklyn, New York, was taken into custody and charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance. Al Mardai, 31, is currently lodged in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $50,000 cash-only bond set by Randolph County Magistrate Tracy Harper.

Elbon said the two locations were shut down after he learned that the businesses hadn’t paid any inventory tax for the last two or three years at both stores.

On Wednesday, both stores had signs placed on their front doors from the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office that read: “Notice of Closure, West Virginia Code 11A-2-1. Duty of sheriff to enforce payment of delinquent taxes. Whenever any taxes become delinquent, it shall be the duty of the sheriff to take immediate steps to enforce payment by use of the methods prescribed in sections two, three and seven of this article.”

“We changed the locks on both the doors on Tuesday,” said Elbon. “And we removed everything electronic from the one store at Valley Pointe.”