Investigators probing reports that the city Sheriff’s Office improperly seized evidence from unlicensed pot shops found more than $100,000 in cash inside safes at the Sheriff’s Office in Queens — a surprising turn given Sheriff Anthony Miranda’s recent statements that his deputies don’t collect money during raids, officials said Friday. The safes holding the cash were found in large shipping containers at the Sheriff’s headquarters on Starr Ave. in Long Island City on Thursday night. The safes had been seized in a pot shop raid, a source within the sheriff’s office said. The money was found along with a ledger with pages torn out, the source said. The city’s Department of Investigation removed the cash and any security footage showing who put the money in the safes, multiple sources with knowledge of the search said. City officials said it was Miranda himself who sent up flares about the cash. A DOI spokeswoman said they were called to the headquarters on Thursday by the Department of Finance, which oversees the Sheriff’s Office. “Sheriff Miranda learned of seemingly unvouchered cash held in safe boxes and self-reported the incident to his supervisors,” City Hall spokeswoman Liz Garcia said in a statement. “His supervisors then reported this to the Department of Investigation. We expect every city employee to follow proper procedures.” Shortly after the raid, all sheriff staffers received an email reminding them that they “should never make statements to the press,” acording to sources. The DOI has been probing the Sheriff’s Office as it receives complaints from pot shop attorneys that cash seized during the raids was improperly vouchered. The corruption watchdog agency is also investigating “pay to play” claims in which weed store owners were asked to donate to the National Latino Officers Association of America, an Hispanic fraternal group Miranda founded, in exchange for lighter treatment, multiple sources told the Daily News. That development was initially reported by The Post. New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda testifying during New York City Council hearing on enforcement against illegal cannabis shops on Sept. 17, 2024. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News) The cash was found nine days after Miranda claimed at a City Council hearing that his deputies never touched money seized during the city’s ongoing “Operation Padlock to Protect” raids. Barry Williams for New York Daily NewsNew York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda, right, talks with members of his agency and of the NY State Office of Cannabis Management during a raid on Weed World at 480 Seventh Ave. in Midtown Manhattan on April, 20, 2023. (Barry Williams for New York Daily News) “Since ‘[Operation] Padlock to Protect,’ the vouchering process has been designated with the NYPD,” Miranda said when asked by City Council Finance Committee Chairman Justin Brannan (D-Brooklyn) about how much revenue the Sheriff’s Office is expected to generate from illicit marijuana shop raids this year. “They are the ones who voucher the property depending on the circumstances of the location. They will either voucher it as safekeeping or voucher it as investigatory evidence, depending on the different circumstances.” Sheriff Anthony Miranda conducting a raid on the New City Smoke Shop at Church St. and Park Place in lower Manhattan on May 7, 2024. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News) Brannan, when told about Thursday’s DOI raid, demanded a full investigation. “Last week I asked Sheriff Miranda if his office had confiscated any cash in the course of shutting down illegal and unlicensed cannabis shops. Under oath, Sheriff Miranda said his office wasn’t in charge of that and if they had seized any cash, he wouldn’t know where it was,” Brannan said. “Now it seems that was a lie.” A large section of the Starr Ave. headquarters is warehouse space, where the Sheriff’s Office kept seized illegal cannabis products before the joint “Padlock to Protect” operation began in May. Union officials refuted Miranda’s claims at the Sept. 17 hearing, saying deputy sheriffs are routinely asked to voucher both cash and cannabis products. “He’s such a liar,” Ingrid Simonovic, the president of the New York City Deputy Sheriff’s Association, told the Daily News Friday. “Miranda lied about not knowing we seize money from inspections under his management. After Miranda [became sheriff], he specifically told sheriff staff to take money from business, whether it’s personal property claimed by the employee or register money.” Sheriff’s union President Ingrid Simonovic called Sheriff Miranda “such a liar.” (Shawn Inglima for New York Daily News) Tensions between Miranda and the union have been running high, with the union calling on Miranda to resign for creating a “hostile work environment” that’s led to an exodus of rank-and-file members. Word of Thursday’s raid in Queens came just hours after federal prosecutors unsealed criminal charges against Mayor Adams alleging he accepted illegal campaign donations along with flight upgrades and travel perks from Turkish nationals in exchange for carrying out favors for the Turkish government. Adams pleaded not guilty to the charges at Manhattan Federal Court Friday. The New York City Sheriff’s Office and NYPD conduct a raid on a warehouse containing an estimated $1 million worth of illegal cannabis products in Long Island City, Queens, on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. (Gardiner Anderson for New York Daily News) The federal corruption indictment came on the heels of resignations of several high-profile Adams administration officials, including NYC Schools Chancellor David Banks on Tuesday and NYC Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan on Monday. Miranda, a former NYPD officer and longtime Adams ally, was appointed city sheriff by Adams shortly after he took office as mayor in early 2022.