Crime & Safety

Drug Task Force Arrests 8 For Synthetic Marijuana Sales

Three of the eight charged are from nearby Venetia.

Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone on Friday announced that arrest warrants for eight people for their alleged participation in the sale and distribution of synthetic marijuana.

Three of those are Venetia residents.

"The individuals who are named in the arrest warrants are part of a ring that distributed the illegal drug through convenience stores throughout the county over the past several years," Vittone said.

The arrests are the result of an extensive investigation that began on October 2011.

Search warrants were issued last year on various local businesses following controlled buys.

"We have seen a dramatic rise in the use of synthetic marijuana, K2 and bath salts, as well as the undesirable side effects that accompany them," Vittone said.

Users of these products have reported instances of disorientation, agitation and more.

Vittone said it is a multi billion dollar industry, and that eight of 10 high school seniors have tried these drugs.

And he said the drugs are dangerous.

"These drugs are dangerous chemical poisons which are of uncertain manufacture in foreign countries and imported to the United States."

Among those for whom arrest warrants have been issued are Snehal Patel, Pratishka Patel and Kailash Patel - all of Venetia.

Charged filed include possession of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver and possession of a designer drug.

Tobacco for Less of McMurray were among the businesses charged Friday. 

Vittone, flanked by the medical director of Gateway Rehabilitation, made the announcement Friday at a press conference.

He stood before a table that was piled high with the drugs.

Vittone said agents confiscated a ton of the drugs, for which businesses were making between $2,000 and $5,000 a day.




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