Operation Artificial High was held in conjunction with a national initiative that targeted multiple levels of the synthetic designer drug industry.
View full sizeThese are examples of fake "bath salts," displayed by a Mississippi lawmaker.Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly and Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan jointly announced the crackdown today in a news release.
The investigation, known as Operation Artificial High, led to the seizure of more than 300,000 doses of various synthetic drugs that carry an estimated street value of $1.25 million, authorities said. More than 50,000 pieces of drug paraphernalia along with about $250,000 in cash and other assets were seized in addition to the synthetic drugs.
Authorities said that agents and troopers conducted undercover purchases and recorded transactions and surveillance as part of the investigation. Residences, businesses, smoke shops, gas stations and convenience stores were searched.
Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli and Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin were listed as cooperative prosecutors in the operation.
Morganelli said efforts to curb the sale and distribution of bath salts in Northampton County have been in effect long before the state's recent involvement, but he still applauded any help his office receives from Harrisburg.
"We've been on top of this for awhile," Morganelli said.
Morganelli did not comment on the specifics of the operation in Northampton County but maintained that it was an ongoing effort.
"We're trying to spread the word to local businesses that these synthetic drugs are a violation of the law," Morganelli added.
Deb Garlicki, a spokeswoman for Martin, deferred all comment on the operation to the attorney general's office.
Though synthetic drugs were banned in Pennsylvania last August, some have argued that they are still readily available for purchase in convenience stores, particularly in the Lehigh Valley, as well as online.
Kelly said synthetic drug producers often repackage the banned product with an alternative name for resale, and that practice will no longer be tolerated.
"This ban cannot be skirted by rebranding these hazardous drugs as 'window cleaner,' 'plant food,' 'incense,' 'not for human consumption' or moving them behind the counter," she said in the release.
Noonan said state police will take a hard-line approach to combating the flow of bath salts and other synthetic drugs across the state.
"Let this be a warning. If you are dealing or using -- we will arrest you," Noonan said in the release. "This crackdown should send a serious message across Pennsylvania, these drugs can kill and we're taking action."
The statewide crackdown was held in conjunction with a national initiative conducted by the Drug Enforcement Agency that targeted multiple levels of the synthetic designer drug industry.
A DEA spokesperson in the department's regional Philadelphia office said on Thursday that the national investigation yielded one arrest in Luzerne County but none thus far in Lehigh or Northampton counties.