By Lee Hermiston, The Gazette
For the second time in less than a year, businesses in Eastern Iowa have been targeted as part of a nationwide synthetic drug raid.
Iowa City Police Chief Sam Hargadine confirmed Wednesday morning that his officers are assisting in Phase II of Project Synergy, which the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has described as a global takedown of synthetic drug networks and supplies.
Hargadine said his officers are assisting DEA officials at 'at least one' business in Iowa City. A residence in Center Point also was searched by the DEA.
'I know there are multiple search warrants,' Hargadine said.
According to a DEA news release, Phase II was a collaborative effort among the DEA, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service as well as state and local law enforcement agencies.
Phase II started in January. Law enforcement took action in 29 states, serving nearly 200 search warrants with the assistance of more than 45 DEA offices.
'As of today, more than 150 individuals have been arrested and federal, state and local law enforcement authorities have seized hundreds of thousands of individually packaged, ready-to-sell synthetic drugs, as well as hundreds of kilograms of raw synthetic products to make thousands more,' the DEA release read. 'Additionally, more than $20 million in cash and assets were seized.'
The DEA said those numbers are expected to grow.
Synthetic marijuana, also known as K2, is sold under brands such as 'Spice,' 'Blaze' and 'Bizzaro,' but sold as bath salts or plant food. The substance - smoked like marijuana - has been shown to cause vomiting, hallucinations, violence and psychosis. The DEA said the drugs have lead to abuse, addiction, organ damage and overdose deaths.
'It's a huge health hazard,' Hargadine said. 'We're going to keep at it.'
In Iowa City, law enforcement officers were observed removing items from Zombies, 316 E. Burlington St. Officers were also spotted at Pipe Dreamz, 355 S. Linn St.. and Happy Daze, 361 E. College St.
The global investigations also targeted the 'flow of drug-related proceeds' to Middle East countries such as Yemen, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, as well as other countries, according to the DEA.
Phase I of Project Synergy culminated in June 2013. Eleven Eastern Iowa businesses were raided as part of the global operation that included arrests and searches in 35 states and five countries. The DEA said at the time that Project Synergy started in December 2013 and ended with 150 arrest warrants and nearly 375 searches in 49 cities.
All told, eight stores were searched in Cedar Rapids, two in Iowa City and one in Waterloo in June 2013, according to the DEA. Officers seized hundreds of pounds of synthetic marijuana, cases of bath salts, as well as cash, vehicles and handguns. The entire operation netted $60 million in cash and assets, 9,445 kilograms of packaged synthetic drugs, 299 kilograms of bath salts, 1,252 kilograms of drugs used to make synthetic marijuana and 783 kilograms of treated plant material.
The raid has what on the surface might appear to be an unlikely supporter in the Cheba Hut sandwich shop. The restaurant, which has a marijuana theme - large sandwiches are called 'blunts' and subs come in variaties such as 'kush' - is located next door to Zombies. Cheba Hut manager Kylie Havel said people associate the restaurant with Zombies and that's not a connotation she wants.
'We're pretty happy here,' Havel said of the raid. ''Ecstatic' would probably be a better word.'
Havel said Zombies clientele loiter in front of Cheba Hut, smoking cigarettes or K2 joints. She said the restaurant has also dealt with thefts and vandalism, which Havel attributes to Zombie customers. Havel said she's hopeful with fewer people loitering in front of her front door, their restaurant will see an increase in business.
'We're really happy that (the raid) happened,' she said. 'We feel bad for the people that work there, because they need jobs. At the same time, they knew they were selling something they shouldn't be selling.'
Authorities in Iowa have taken a variety of approaches to the synthetic drug problem in the state outside of raids. According to federal court documents, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Cedar Rapids seized the bank account of Smoke-N-Pipe, a Cedar Rapids business accused of selling synthetic marijuana in November 2013. In April 2013, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller announced a consumer fraud lawsuit against two Des Moines convenience store owners accused of selling synthetic drugs.
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Posted by Unknown on Wednesday, May 7, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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