Synthetic drug manufacturer raided in Chamblee
- 8/3/12
- Categorized in: Crime, DeKalb News
Law enforcement officials arrested four people and seized hundreds of pounds of synthetic drugs packaged and ready for sale at a Chamblee warehouse July 25.
The raid was part of a nationwide sweep on synthetic designer drugs performed by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that seized more than $36 million in cash and resulted in 91 arrests.
Harry Sommers, director of the DEA in Atlanta, said agents seized approximately 100 pounds of synthetic marijuana that was packaged and ready for sale during the raid in Chamblee and more than 1,500 pounds that was ready to be prepared.
Sommers said the estimated retail value of the drugs exceeds $10 million.
Synthetic marijuana, often called spice or K2, is an herbal product mixed with acetone and a synthetic compound that mimics the effects of marijuana.
DEA agents and officials from the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office held a news conference with other law enforcement officials July 26 to present the results of the nationwide raid, titled Operation Log Jam. Officials said the operation against the companies responsible for the production of synthetic drugs often marketed as incense, bath salts or plant food, is the first of its kind.
“Synthetic marijuana and bath salts are a danger,” DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James said. “They are a clear and present danger and an imminent threat to the lives of our young people here in Georgia and all throughout the nation.”
According to Erik Burton, a spokesman for the DeKalb DA’s Office, no more details have been released and federal officials have yet to turn over the Chamblee case to the DA’s office.
DEA Special Agent Chuvalo Truesdell said he is unable to release any more information, pending the outcome of the chemical analysis of the substances and chemicals seized in the raid.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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If you want to know where all the illegal video poker machines are, just look for the dekalb county police cars outside of some bars around lunchtime, dekalb county police get free lunches from the bars to look the other way and that includes prosistution and drugs also. Burrell Ellis and Larry Johnson know all about it.
I have been fighting these drugs for almost a year through my volunteer work at To The Maximus Foundation (http://www.2themax.org). I have called in several places selling this drug in Dekalb County, but the police never seem to act.
I am disgusted by the way in which Dekalb County is ignoring this horrible problem. How many kids have to be hospitalized, how many kids have to die before the Dekalb County Sheriff's Office acts?
We need to demand some accountability from our sheriff!