Melbourne DEA raid nets 22,000 packets of synthetic marijuana

It’s been touted as the first nationwide crackdown on synthetic drugs.

 

drug Enforcement Administration raided a Brevard Countyindustrial complex Wednesday, federal and local agents revealed details Thursday about what they found.

Melbourne police and Brevard County deputies accompanied Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Wednesday’s raid at the complex on Dusa Drive.

Six warrants were served. Agents took away 22,000 packets of synthetic marijuana, which they said was being made at the facility.

They also found 8,000 packets of bath salts, along with potpourri used to infuse a number of chemicals to make the synthetic drug.

“These synthetic drugs are effectively marketed as bath salts, spice and incense, and even plant food,” said Jim Chaparro from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Nationally agents said one kilogram can produce $750,000 in retail profit.

Tim Reed, who works nearby, said the operation has been running for about a year.

“They had cement mixers out back, and they’d be running and they’d put those ingredients in, and they’re spraying something in there, in cement mixers,” said Reed. “They are probably still out of the back door of the place.”

Neighboring workers said most days, they heard the rumble of cement mixers around back. They reported smelling raspberry and other aromas in the air, and saw more than a dozen workers going inside the business daily.

Seven people were arrested on non-related drug charges and taken away in U.S. Border Patrol vehicles.

Since Wednesday’s bust, it was revealed that it was part of a much larger crackdown called “Operation Log Jam,” being conducted by the DEA alongside state and local agencies in Florida and several other states.

Two hundred sixty-five search warrants were executed in 90 cities in 30 states as part of the operation.

A total of 29 suspected manufacturing facilities were raided, including the one in Melbourne.

The challenges of synthetic marijuana

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Monday afternoon the Contact 5 Investigators were undercover, inside a Martin County beverage shop.  We were hunting for synthetic marijuana.

“He would do anything to get his hands on it,” explained a local mother who asked us not to reveal her identity to protect her son.

Her interview with the Contact 5 Investigators is the first time she’s talking publicly about fake pot.

“It’s crushed our entire family, it has just ripped us apart.”

She says the chemically doused herbs sold in shiny packets and labeled with names like “Mad Hatter” and “Kriptonyt,” have turned her 19 year old son from a college bound Eagle scout to helpless and homeless.

“He was addicted to this substance and he had to have more and more and more.”

Easy to access and cheap to buy, synthetic marijuana has become a national threat, now getting national attention.

Chopper 5 captured a bust at a storage unit in suburban west palm beach Wednesday, the raid one of about 100 nationwide.

“This is one of, if not the largest distributor in the United States,” explained Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw during a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama signed into law a new measure that would ban the sale and production of many of the chemicals found in synthetic marijuana.

“The drug manufacturers of products, like synthetic drugs, they’re a step ahead of law enforcement,” said Philip Bulone, a former New York narcotics cop and drug abuse counselor.

Bulone questions if laws are enough to stop the synthetic spread.

“You can rest assured that someone is in a laboratory creating a new compound. ”

He believes the key to busting the problem is closing down the businesses where it’s sold.

“When you hurt your people in the pocketbook, people tend to back off.”

Until its gone, synthetic marijuana will be available.  We purchased 3 grams of “Kryptonyt” for $10 from the shop in Martin County.  We received no receipt, were asked no questions.  It’s that easy access parents, like the mother who has asked to remain anonymous, are so concerned will continue.

“It’s a slow death.  I see my son killing himself.”

According to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue during the month of June, crews responded to a dozen incidents involving synthetic marijuana. It was the highest volume of calls over synthetic marijuana in the agency’s history.

 

Police raid Duluth store in national drug sweep

DULUTH – Spilling out of a city bus Wednesday morning, a cadre of federal agents and Duluth police officers raced into the Last Place on Earth with guns drawn, ordering everyone face down onto the floor.

“I was terrified to have a gun pointed at my face,” said Cynthia Peterson, 20, who had come to the head shop with her fiancé and a friend of his who intended to buy synthetic marijuana sold as “herbal incense.”

The raid, the second on the Duluth establishment in less than a year, was part of a nationwide federal crackdown Wednesday on dealers in what health experts consider the latest illegal drug epidemic: man-made chemicals designed to mimic marijuana, ecstasy and other illegal drugs. Sold online and in stores as “incense,” “bath salts,” “plant food” and other innocuous-sounding products, synthetic or designer drugs have generated thousands of calls to poison control centers and have been linked to more than 20 deaths in the United States, including two in Minnesota.

Michele Leonhart, an administrator with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), scheduled a news briefing for Thursday to announce “Operation Log Jam,” a “takedown” of synthetic-drug dealers in 100 cities across the country. Duluth’s raid apparently was the only one in Minnesota.

DEA raids also were reported to have occurred Wednesday in New York, Texas, Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. Jeanne Cooney, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Minneapolis, said most of the raids targeted dealers, whereas agents in Duluth only seized evidence.

“We are executing search warrants in connection to an ongoing investigation,” Cooney said. “We are not at this time making any arrests or filing charges.”

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, in a ceremony scheduled for Thursday morning, is expected to sign a bill that will make it a felony to sell synthetic drugs. The law takes effect Aug. 1.

Jim Carlson, owner of the Duluth head shop, was on a fishing trip to Alaska on Wednesday, according to his girlfriend and business partner, Lava Haugen.

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She said the officers presented a warrant and seized at least $20,000 worth of herbal incense, and files, invoices and other business records as well as a number of guns Carlson kept at the store. Officers also identified and searched customers, arresting at least two for outstanding warrants.

Peterson said those arrested included her fiancé, Phillip White, who was sought by Benton County authorities for allegedly violating terms of probation.

Haugen said police closed the store for at least several hours while conducting the raid.

Minnesota outlawed many of the chemicals in synthetic drugs last year. Carlson, of Superior, Wis., was one of the few dealers in the state who continued to sell them, saying he switched to products with different formulas that might not be covered by the law.

He said in a 2011 interview that his store was on pace to sell $6 million in synthetic marijuana and stimulants that year. Asked Wednesday whether sales had met that expectation, Haugen said: “Yes, sales have been just as good, if not more so.”

Duluth police raided Carlson’s store in September, seizing what he said was $50,000 worth of herbal incense, thousands of dollars in cash, his computer, cellphone and 31 guns.

No charges were filed after that raid, however. Jon Holets, an assistant St. Louis County attorney, said that’s because local authorities learned of the federal investigation and decided to “collaborate” with federal authorities rather than prosecute Carlson under state laws.

Carlson’s attorney, Randall Tigue, said that he had yet to see the search warrant for Wednesday’s raid but was puzzled about its legal basis because new federal synthetic drug regulations don’t take effect until October.

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Tigue said he’s prepared to fight any charges by arguing that the substances are banned based on how the human brain reacts to them.

“Defining criminality by a reaction within the brain makes it a thought crime, and prosecuting someone for that would violate the First Amendment,” Tigue said, adding that if Carlson isn’t charged in connection with last year’s raid, he might sue for the return of the incense.

“What this raid tells me is that the first raid didn’t yield anything they could charge him with,” Tigue said.

Haugen, who notified Carlson of the raid, predicted that they’ll simply reorder products and restock shelves, as they did after the last raid. “I’m sure we’re going to reopen and keep doing what we were doing,” she said.

While some customers, including Peterson, said the raid amounted to nothing more than “hassling people,” Dean Baltes, owner and publisher of Shel/Don Design & Imaging, a shop next door, said he was thrilled to see it.

For more than a year, Baltes and owners of other nearby businesses have complained that Carlson’s synthetic drugs have attracted an unsavory and sometimes strung-out clientele that intimidates and disgusts visitors to Duluth’s “Old Downtown.”

 

 

“My partner, who is a CPA, calculated that it costs us $2,000 a day in walk-in trade,” Baltes said as he watched the raid from across the street. “People don’t want to deal with the violence, or the vomit in our doorway. I didn’t expect this, and I’m extremely glad it’s happening. I hope it sticks.”

cracking down on synthetic marijuana

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Monday afternoon the Contact 5 Investigators were undercover, inside a Martin County beverage shop.  We were hunting for synthetic marijuana.

“He would do anything to get his hands on it,” explained a local mother who asked us not to reveal her identity to protect her son.

Her interview with the Contact 5 Investigators is the first time she’s talking publicly about fake pot.

“It’s crushed our entire family, it has just ripped us apart.”

She says the chemically doused herbs sold in shiny packets and labeled with names like “Mad Hatter” and “Kriptonyt,” have turned her 19 year old son from a college bound Eagle scout to helpless and homeless.

“He was addicted to this substance and he had to have more and more and more.”

Easy to access and cheap to buy, synthetic marijuana has become a national threat, now getting national attention.

Chopper 5 captured a bust at a storage unit in suburban west palm beach Wednesday, the raid one of about 100 nationwide.

“This is one of, if not the largest distributor in the United States,” explained Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw during a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama signed into law a new measure that would ban the sale and production of many of the chemicals found in synthetic marijuana.

“The drug manufacturers of products, like synthetic drugs, they’re a step ahead of law enforcement,” said Philip Bulone, a former New York narcotics cop and drug abuse counselor.

Bulone questions if laws are enough to stop the synthetic spread.

“You can rest assured that someone is in a laboratory creating a new compound. ”

He believes the key to busting the problem is closing down the businesses where it’s sold.

“When you hurt your people in the pocketbook, people tend to back off.”

Until its gone, synthetic marijuana will be available.  We purchased 3 grams of “Kryptonyt” for $10 from the shop in Martin County.  We received no receipt, were asked no questions.  It’s that easy access parents, like the mother who has asked to remain anonymous, are so concerned will continue.

“It’s a slow death.  I see my son killing himself.”

According to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue during the month of June, crews responded to a dozen incidents involving synthetic marijuana. It was the highest volume of calls over synthetic marijuana in the agency’s history.

Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/fake-pot-will-it-ever-end#ixzz2220Mesnv

Law expands illegal synthetic drugs

ST. PAUL – More synthetic drugs will be illegal under a law taking effect Wednesday, and a state agency will be able to act faster to make newly developed versions illegal.

Still, as makers of the so-called “designer drugs” continue to change chemical formulas to skirt the law, there will be lags between when a new drug is released and it is declared illegal.

State officials and law enforcement officers said Thursday that so much about the drugs known by names such as spice and 2C-E is not known, other than they threaten Minnesota’s youth.

“No one knows what is in these compounds,” Gov. Mark Dayton said during a ceremonial re-signing of a bill he approved in April.

“We don’t know just how badly this affects our young people, our citizens,” Sen. Scott Newman, R-Hutchinson, said.

Designer drugs are marketed as legal alternatives to illegal drugs such as marijuana.

Head shops in Duluth and Moorhead, in particular, have been in the spotlight for selling synthetic drugs. For the most part, what they have sold is legal because there was no law specifically outlawing the substance.

That began to change last year when the state Legislature passed a law that said any drugs that acts like an illegal drug also may be considered illegal. This year, lawmakers added 250 more chemical mixtures to the illegal list and upped the penalty for selling them to a felony, which could bring up to five years in prison.

Law enforcement officers hope the new state laws, combined with federal laws, slow the rapid development of new designer drugs.

“They are bringing this chess game to an end,” Duluth Police Chief Gordon Ramsay said of lawmakers.

Many people avoid downtown Duluth, he said, because of problems associated with a shop called the Last Chance on Earth that sells synthetic drugs. He has permanently assigned a police officer to the area near the shop.

Federal authorities raided Last Chance on Wednesday.

Deaths of two young Minnesotans, from Park Rapids and Blaine, have been blamed on synthetic drugs, as has one in eastern North Dakota.

Five Minnesotans recently overdosed on a synthetic drug that does not fall under the new laws, said Director Frank Dolejsi of the Minnesota State Forensic Science Laboratory. However, he added, the new law allows the state Pharmacy Board to more quickly ban the drug.

The board still would need up to four months to make a newly designed drug illegal, board Executive Director Cody Wiberg said.

Under the existing law, it would mean a two or three month longer wait, he said.

Ramsay said there is no doubt there will be a gap between the time a new drug appears and when the state board can outlaw it. But new state and federal laws are better than ones they replace, he said.

According to Wiberg, Minnesotans using synthetic drugs do not know what they are getting.

“When they use these drugs, they are essentially doing a chemical form of Russian roulette,” he said.

 

 

 

 

DEA raids smoke shops in Las Cruces, Sunland Park, Alamogordo

LAS CRUCES — Federal and local law enforcement officers raided several smoke shops Wednesday in Las Cruces, as well as one business in Sunland Park, as part of a nationwide investigation into the alleged production and distribution of synthetic drugs.

Masked agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency, assisted by LCPD officers, were seen removing several large boxes of evidence from at least three retail locations near the intersection of South Solano Drive and East Idaho Avenue.

Federal agents also raided the Station Recreation smoke shop on 1621 Appaloosa in Sunland Park. DEA officials did not say Wednesday if any raids in southern New Mexico resulted in arrests.

An affidavit filed in support of the search warrants in the U.S. District Court for New Mexico indicates that 14 businesses in Las Cruces, Sunland Park and Alamogordo were targeted for allegedly selling illegal synthetic cannabinoids, commonly known as Spice, and synthetic cathinones, more popularly known as “bath salts.”

Two smoke shops in Silver City, Twisted Illusions and The Smoke Shop, were not raided and neither sells Spice, workers said.

In January, the DEA, joined by other federal and local law enforcement agencies, began investigating the smoke shops, often sending undercover agents to purchase suspected synthetic drugs, according to court documents.

“Each undercover operation has resulted in the seizure of individual-used sized containers containing a plant material that is believed to

have been treated with chemicals or a powdery-like substance,” DEA agent Jeffery S. Castillo wrote in his affidavit.

The raids in southern New Mexico appeared to be part of a coordinated nationwide investigation as the DEA on Wednesday also raided businesses in El Paso, Albuquerque, as well as locations in California, Utah, New York and New Hampshire, according to published reports.

“DEA agents are conducting numerous enforcement operations throughout the region … This is part of a bigger operation,” said Carmen Coutino, a spokeswoman for the DEA office in El Paso.

The search warrant for the businesses in southern New Mexico, signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Carmen E. Garza, authorized agents to seize written and electronic documents, financial records, suspected synthetic drugs and paraphernalia, as well as security camera recordings.

Witnesses at Somewhere Else Comics Games, one of 10 businesses in Las Cruces targeted by the DEA, said Wednesday that police officers entered the business with guns drawn, announcing they were raiding the establishment.

“They pat-frisked me and my son. It was very scary for us,” said one woman who declined to give her name. She and her 13-year-old son sat inside a vehicle outside the store at 1230 S. Solano Drive.

Authorities also raided Phat Glass, located next door to Somewhere Else Comics and Games, and Smokin Supply, less than a quarter-mile away at 1315 S. Solano Drive.

“They came in, guns drawn, told me to put my hands up and handcuffed me,” said Maurice Portillo, co-owner of Smokin Supply, who was not arrested and subsequently released.

Portillo said the DEA agents “tore” through his shop, turning around security cameras and taking cell phones, business records, as well as glass containers and herbal incense products that are often described as synthetic marijuana because of their chemical composition.

Portillo, a 29-year-old U.S. Army veteran and student at New Mexico State University, said he believed the products he sold were legal, noting that he bought them from a distributor who also provided literature vouching for their legality with DEA drug scheduling provisions.

“I don’t do any illegal business out here. There’s no history of anything illegal here,” said Portillo, who opened his business about six weeks ago. Portillo said the DEA agents did not tell him what they were looking for, and made several references to the operation being “Obama (expletive).”

“I was like, ‘This is just (expletive) politics …,'” Portillo said.

On July 9, President Barack Obama signed the Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 2012, which instituted tougher criminal penalties for selling some first-generation synthetic drugs — such as K2 and Spice — as well as some newer ones.

In March 2011, the DEA “emergency scheduled” several chemicals often found in herbal incense products that make them chemically similar to tetrahydrocannabinol, THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

However, Castillo wrote in his affidavit that “clandestine manufacturers and traffickers” began distributing smokable cannabinoid products in an attempt to circumvent newly enacted federal and state laws.

Castillo said the criminal offenses possibly committed by the investigation’s targets include possession with intent to distribute analogs of a controlled substance, and selling drug paraphernalia.

Portillo, whose store also sells health items, regular tobacco products, cell phones, vaporizers and storage containers, said he never believed he was selling anything illegal and added that he cooperated with authorities. He also said the raid will only temporarily hurt his business.

“We’ll be all right. We’ll be back,” he said.

Brian Fraga can be reached at (575) 541-5462; Follow him on Twitter @bfraga

 

Closer look

The Drug Enforcement Administration, investigating the alleged production and distribution of synthetic drugs, obtained search warrants for the following businesses in southern New Mexico:

— Phat Glass, 1211 East Idaho, Las Cruces

— Phat Glass South, 306 Union, Las Cruces

— Phat Glass Too, 109 North New York, Alamogordo

— Phat Glass 3, 823 North New York, Alamogordo

— Sam’s Gift Shop and Smoking Accessories, 607-C South White Sands Boulevard, Alamogordo

— Neverwhere, 940 North Main, Las Cruces

— Somewhere Else Comic Books and Games, 1230 South Solano, Las Cruces

— Zia Tattoo, 1300 El Paseo, Las Cruces

— Station Recreation, 1621 Appaloosa, Sunland Park

— The Realm Hookah Lounge, 991 West Picacho, Las Cruces

— Smokin Supply, 1315 South Solano, Las Cruces

— Hookah Outlet, 1900 South Espina, Las Cruces

— Subherbia, 1200 East Madrid, Las Cruces

— Subherbia 2, 150 South Solano, Las Cruces
1:27 p.m.

LAS CRUCES — Federal and local law enforcement officers raided at least three Las Cruces smoke shops today as part of a wider investigation into synthetic drugs.

Masked agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency, assisted by LCPD officers, are still on-scene at Phat Glass, 1211 East Idaho Ave., Smokin Supply, 1315 South Solano Drive, and Somewhere Else Comics and Games, 1230 South Solano Drive.

Police entered the comic store/smoke shop this morning with guns drawn and announced that they were raiding the business, said two witnesses who were inside the store.

Witnesses said the agents were “looking through everything” in the store, checking counters, receipts, and pat-frisking everybody inside the business and asking for their identifications.

Federal agents were also seen bringing evidence bags inside the stores.

DEA spokesman Carmen Coutino confirmed that the investigation was related to synthetic drugs. DEA agents in New Mexico and Texas have raided other smoke shops looking to confiscate synthetic marijuana, commonly known as SPICE, according to multiple media reports.

Coutino said more information will be released later today, adding: “DEA agents are conducting numerous enforcement operations throughout the region. This is part of a bigger operation.”

12:16 p.m.

LAS CRUCES — Shops near the corner of Solano Drive and Idaho Avenue may be part of a federal raid by agents looking to confiscate the synthetic drug Spice.

According to Sun-News reporter Brian Fraga, the Las Cruces Police Department is assisting the Drug Enforcement Agency in an investigation Wednesday at Phat Glass, 1211 E. Idaho Ave., Smokin’ Supply, 1315 S. Solano Drive, and Somewhere Else Comics and Games, 1230 S. Solano Drive.

 

Police entered the comic store/smoke shop this morning with guns drawn and announced they were raiding the business, two witnesses on scene said.

DEA agents are raiding locations across New Mexico, according to multiple media sources.

DEA agents raided at least one location in Sunland Park and KOB.com is reporting DEA raided 16 locations in Albuquerque today.

A spokeswoman for the agency told KFOX14 that they are looking to confiscate Spice.

Spice refers to a wide variety of herbal mixtures that produce experiences similar to marijuana and that are marketed as safe, legal alternatives to that drug, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

Synthetic marijuana was banned in New Mexico in April 2011.

Washington County vendors are focus of synthetic drugs raid

Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies on Wednesday raided nine retail establishments in the Washington County area, cracking down on the sale of what police characterized as “extremely dangerous” synthetic drugs, including bath salts and a man-made drug called K2.

“There’s a lot of work being done right now,” said state Police Trooper Joe Christy. “There’s a lot of evidence that’s being seized and catalogued.”

Trooper Christy said search warrants were served throughout the day at various local convenience stores and retailers, which were selling the drugs as a form of “herbal incense.” No arrests were made, but more warrants are expected to be sought and served in the next few days, Trooper Christy said, and the investigation will continue.

The joint undercover investigation began two months ago when law enforcement began seeing a rise in the availability and use of synthetic drugs, Trooper Christy said.

“We’re seeing an increasing number of people using them and/or the ill effects from them,” including serious health problems, he said.

The raids reflected growing concern nationwide over the traffic of the compound, also known by the names “K2” or “Spice,” which has a marijuana-like effect on the brain.

The agencies included the state police; the Washington and Canonsburg police departments; the Washington County Drug Task Force; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; U.S. postal inspectors; the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Trooper Christy said the items were packaged “not for human consumption,” but were nonetheless being smoked by people to get high.

Washington County District Attorney Eugene Vittone said compounds in the drugs can cause respiratory injuries, paranoia, vomiting and erratic behavior.

“These products are of unknown origin and are imported into this country,” Mr. Vittone said in a news release issued Wednesday. “They present a serious, recognized health risk.”

Parents, especially those with teenage children, should take heed, Trooper Christy said.

“You have to be aware of what your kids are involved with and know what’s out there and what dangers are out there,” he said. “These things were being sold in convenience stores and places where they just sell tobacco.”

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/washington/washington-county-vendors-are-focus-of-synthetic-drugs-raid-646194/#ixzz221syQrxU

 

State and federal law enforcement crack down on synthetic drugs in St. Louis region

ST. LOUIS • By outward appearances, it was just an average office area, with multiple computers. But St. Charles County Sheriff’s deputies and federal drug agents who cracked down on the undisclosed location along Scherer Parkway in St. Charles knew it was a mask for something much bigger.

Just how big surprised even them.

Their joint effort had uncovered one of the biggest distributors of synthetic drugs in the Midwest. Investigators are still learning how big, Sheriff Tom Neer said Thursday.

He said the computers provided a revealing window to a massive internet operation that peddled the illicit products to sellers.

Authorities also recently found two storage areas linked to the distributor: one, in St. Charles, with more than $1.5 million worth of illegal product, and the other, just outside of Overland, with more than $5 million worth. Officials believe there are others yet undiscovered.

With the conclusion this week of a nationwide effort to dismantle synthetic drug distributors, Neer shared details of the raid with a reporter. The investigation continues, but Neer expects to present evidence to prosecutors soon.

“Operation Log Jam,” which played out Wednesday in more than 100 cities, was a first-ever, nationwide effort to wipe out an industry responsible for drugs that are marketed as bath salts or incense but which mimic the effects of cocaine, marijuana, LSD and methamphetamine.

Common names of the products include K2, Spice, Ivory Wave or Cloud 9, officials said.

Across the country, state and federal authorities arrested more than 90 people and seized more than 5 million packets of synthetic drugs, raw material to produce 13.6 million more and $36 million in cash.

In the St. Louis region, officials on Wednesday confiscated more than 123,000 packets worth about $4.6 million, nearly 7,000 pounds of raw material and more than $85,000. Illicit business was brought to a halt at more than 25 locations — mostly convenience stores, gas stations and head shops. More than a half dozen arrests were made and more are expected.

“Anyone who distributes synthetic drugs is a narcotics trafficker, plain and simple,” James Shroba, acting special agent in charge of the DEA’s St. Louis Division, said at a news conference Thursday in St. Louis revealing the results. “We plan to put them out of business.”

Neer said his county began its effort about eight months ago, carrying out raids at places such as Hook-Up, Retro-Active, and South 94 Bait, Tackle and Smoke Shop.

Several months of investigation led to the major distributor in St. Charles, where search warrants were served a few weeks ago.

In St. Clair County, six search warrants were prepared Wednesday by State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly’s office as part of the sweep. But the office had already begun its own initiative to target convenience store sales in April.

“I am encouraged that the federal government has now joined the fight in a big way, because people pumping poison into our community must be confronted,” Kelly said in a prepared statement.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan started a program this year called “Operation Smoked Out,” which as of this spring resulted in the statewide seizure of 13,101 packets of drugs with an estimated value of more than $336,000.

Use of the synthetic drugs has risen sharply in recent years. Nationwide, calls to poison control centers about synthetic marijuana totaled 6,890 last year, up from 2,915 in 2010. Calls related to “bath salts,” drugs that mimic cocaine and methamphetamine, soared to 6,072 in 2011 from 303 the year before. In the past year, emergency room visits due to synthetic marijuana use went up 6,000 percent, Shroba said.

The problem cuts across urban and rural areas, from coast to coast, officials said.

Several deaths have been attributed to use of the synthetic drugs, and many St. Louis-area communities have banned their sale.

In recent years, Illinois and other states banned specific formulations only to have drugmakers come up with slightly different ones. An Illinois law that took effect Jan. 1 bans all chemicals that are structural derivatives.

Missouri lawmakers also have made so-called “bath salts” and synthetic marijuana illegal.

Scott Collier, diversion program manager for the DEA’s St. Louis division, said many businesses have tried to evade the law with labels declaring the products not for human consumption. That spared them from prosecution until recent changes in federal laws.

Some retailers, he said, have convinced themselves that what they are doing is legal.

Neer said distributors and sellers know the products are harmful yet hawk them to impressionable teenagers as legal and safe.

He said, “Anyone with the common sense of a manhole cover knows you don’t pay $65 for three grams of something to make your shoes smell good or your bath water bubble.”

 

Teen’s drug reaction points to K2, bath salts

SALEM, N.H. — Less than 48 hours after federal agents and local police raided a store for synthetic drugs, a local teenager apparently had a bad reaction after using them.

Police were called to a home on S. Policy Street late Thursday night after a caller reported a 17-year-old male was “flipping out.”

When police arrived, the teenager was “shirtless, lethargic and sweating heavily,” according to police reports.

“He appeared to be heavily impaired,” the report said.

Both the teen and his mother told police he had been smoking K2 and Crazy Monkey bath salts, according to police documents.

K2 is a brand name for synthetic marijuana. Those products were targets of a nationwide Drug Enforcement Administration effort Wednesday to shut down retail stores and manufacturing sites, and significantly cut down the availability of synthetic designer drugs.

Can You Dig It at 101 Main St. was one of four sites raided in New England, one of three in New Hampshire.

The pawn shop/tattoo parlor, which also sells “decorative” swords, pepper spray, adult novelties and clothing, pipes, rolling papers, DVDs and more, was swarmed by DEA agents, Salem and North Andover police Wednesday morning.

Some 76 cardboard boxes, marked as DEA evidence, were removed from the store Wednesday, filling two pickup trucks and a large SUV. No arrests have been made locally in connection with the sweep, dubbed Operation Log Jam, but local officials have said they expect that to happen at some point.

It’s the DEA’s show and, short of a press conference and news release Thursday, there hasn’t been a lot of specific information released. Repeated phone calls to the Boston DEA office have not been returned.

No one has said what kind of material was taken from the store during the execution of a federal search warrant. While local police were helping at the scene, it is in federal hands.

But Salem police will continue to monitor and investigate any activity around synthetic drugs, Deputy police Chief Shawn Patten said yesterday.

“Frankly, after the raids and working with the DEA, the officers found it ironic we would have an overdose of this type right after we had conducted that raid in close proximity,” he said yesterday.

The teen has not been charged and police can’t be sure he had taken K2 or bath salts, Patten said, but it seemed feasible.

“It’s consistent with use of those types of synthetic drugs,” he said.

The teenager was evaluated by Salem fire personnel and transported to Holy Family Hospital in Methuen.

He wouldn’t tell police where he got the drugs and said he was smoking alone, according to police reports.

Salem detectives spent some time Thursday visiting other stores in town that were suspected of or known to sell synthetic drugs, Patten said.

“Our detectives went around to all the other stores and advised them the stuff on the shelves was illegal and they looking for voluntary compliance before taking action,” he said. “All the stores we visited had already removed it from their shelves prior to our arrival.”

While Patten said police are happy with the level of voluntary compliance, they will continue to monitor activity and urge anyone who sees the products for sale to notify police.

He said police had been monitoring all the stores where they knew synthetic marijuana or bath salts were being sold, but the volume of activity and the inventory at Can You Dig It was much greater than at any other local business.

The store owner, Judith Tridenti of North Andover, has denied any illegal activity, according to her lawyer.

“There were several specific overdoses and issues that came out of that specific store,” Patten said. “We have had all the stores selling this merchandise under investigation. Can You Dig It was a larger supplier and was brought to the attention of federal investigators. They chose to include that store as part of the federal raid.”

If any store that has removed the items from its shelves starts selling them again, he said, charges would be forthcoming.

“One store owner told us the markup is enormous,” Patten said.

“He would buy it for $2 a pack and sell it for $20.” Several store owners told detectives they were unaware the products were illegal.

“I really believe the goal of the DEA was to shut off supply lines coming into the country, making it unavailable for sale in the U.S.,” Patten said.

“For us in Salem specifically, hopefully, it makes it more difficult for people to get, and easier for us to monitor and enforce.”

 

Troopers visit 3,500 stores in K2 drug checks

The Michigan State Police announced Thursday that troopers have visited more than 3,500 retail stores statewide since late June in an effort to raise awareness that it is illegal to buy, sell or possess K2 or other synthetic drugs.

Although most retailers were in compliance with the law, approximately 140 cases across the state are pending further investigation, according to a news release.

In one case, a detective received a tip about synthetic drugs being sold at a retail store in Menominee County, the release said. Four employees were arrested, and nearly 600 packets of synthetic drugs were confiscated.

In another instance, an employee of a retail store in Crawford County proactively called a state police narcotics team to turn over a quantity of synthetic drugs being sold after the law had taken effect.

Despite state and federal bans that took effect this month, the drugs — often marketed as herbal incense or bath salts that mimic highs from cocaine, marijuana and LSD — remain available in some convenience stores, smoke shops and online, according to authorities.

On Wednesday, police and federal agents raided dozens of businesses suspected of selling synthetic drugs in nearly 100 cities during the first nationwide crackdown. The Detroit DEA was not part of that, officials said.

“There is nothing OK, legal or safe about synthetic drugs like K2, and the Michigan State Police is taking a zero tolerance approach to enforcement,” Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue, director of the Michigan State Police, said in a release. “While those who choose to break the law can expect enforcement action, we are pleased to report that the majority of businesses are true partners in this effort and chose to comply voluntarily.”