A Queens man was busted after he sold $500 in illegal fireworks to undercover cops — then told them he had “a lot more” back at the house, police said yesterday.
The NYPD’s vice unit first conducted a buy on Hillside Avenue at Queens Boulevard on Tuesday, picking up the fireworks from George Liakas, police said.
After sealing the deal, Liakas, 26, told the undercover cops he had “a lot more fireworks” at his house, authorities said.
Cops showed up at Liakas’ 49th Street house in Astoria the next day with a search warrant and cuffed him at around 11 p.m. as he was walking into his home.
Inside, cops found 50 boxes of illegal fireworks, two boxes of firework-making materials, eight canisters of military-grade aluminum power and five pounds of potassium perchlorate, police said.
The NYPD had been cracking down on illegal fireworks in advance of the Fourth. In total, cops busted at least 68 people and seized six vehicles related to the effort. Thirteen of those busted were at vehicle checkpoints; others were nabbed in buy-and-bust operations.