Update: Nearly $150,000 in Synthetic Pot Seized in Smoke Shop Raid

This story was updated at 7 p.m. Feb. 17, 2012.

Close to $150,000 worth of synthetic cannabinoids – illegal herbal-based products chemically engineered to replicate the psychoactive effects of marijuana – and an almost equal amount of drug paraphernalia were seized as a result of a raid Thursday afternoon (Feb. 16) at Wonderland Smoke Shop in Lawrence Township, authorities confirmed today (Feb. 17).

The raid at the shop in the 2700 block of Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1) was the result of a month-long investigation conducted by the Trenton Police Department’s Vice Enforcement Unit, the Lawrence Township Police Department and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Officer Peter Szpakowski, Trenton Police Department spokesman, revealed today that 7,212 individual pouches or vials of synthetic cannabinoids, $719 in cash, and almost $150,000 worth of alleged drug paraphernalia – from pipes to bongs – were seized as part of the investigation.

Wonderland Smoke Shop owner Gene Goldsman, 42, of Millstone Township, and store clerk Christopher Mario, 26, of Pennington were both arrested, Szpakowski said. He said each was charged with multiple drug offenses.

The investigation began when authorities across Mercer County began receiving reports that an increasing and alarming number of teenagers and young adults were using synthetic cannabinoids, which is more potent than organic marijuana.

“We started receiving information about high school kids getting high on this stuff and going to school impaired – kids in Trenton, Lawrence, Hamilton, Robbinsville, all over the county,” Szpakowski said.

Although synthetic cannabinoids were made illegal and classified as a Schedule I controlled dangerous substance in 2011 by the DEA, several varieties are still being sold in gram-sized and half-gram-sized pouches and vials in tobacco shops, convenience stores and gas stations across the country under the guise they are potpourri. Yet their packaging carries images and names like “Hayze,” “Mary Jane” and “Jeffrey” that are suggestive of marijuana drug use, Szpakowski said.

He said some brands even include step-by-step instructions that explain how to smoke the substance and describe the different “stages” of the resultant high, while others carry warnings urging users to have a friend remain nearby while they smoke it because the experience can be extremely powerful and mind-altering.

Seized along with the synthetic cannabinoids was a quantity of salvia powder, a substance that Szpakowski described as “really wicked” and which he said “does a number” on those who smoke it.

“This stuff has flooded the local marijuana market,” Szpakowski said. “All this packaging is geared toward the younger marijuana user.”

The increased use of synthetic cannabinoids that authorities have seen recently in Mercer County, particular in suburban towns like Lawrence, is a clear indication that parents need to be on alert for these drugs, he said, adding that a simple Internet search will result in numerous YouTube videos of teenagers and young adults under the influence of the drugs.

“Parents need to educate themselves,” he said. “Drugs don’t just come in little baggies anymore. They come disguised as potpourri and all kinds of other stuff.”

Thursday’s raid at Wonderland Smoke Shop was preceded by authorities on Wednesday (Feb. 15) “intercepting” two 25-pound boxes of synthetic cannabinoids sent to the store in Lawrence from an address in Florida, Szpakowski said.

On Thursday, he said, an undercover officer went into the store in Lawrence shortly before 4 p.m. and purchased some synthetic cannabinoids from the store clerk, Mario. Based on what the clerk allegedly told the undercover officer about how to use the substance, “there’s no doubt that they knew what they were selling,” he said.

After the alleged purchase was completed by the undercover officer, authorities raided the store, arrested the suspects and seized the drugs. “Lawrence Township police did an outstanding job seizing all of the drug paraphernalia, everything from a $5 smoke pipe to a $2,500 water bong,” Szpakowski said.

He said Goldsman, the store’s owner, was charged with possession of synthetic cannabinoids, possession with intent to distribute, possession with intent within 500 feet of a public library, and possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to promote drug use.       

He said the clerk, Marion, was charged with distribution of synthetic cannabinoids, possession, possession with intent to distribute, and possession with intent within 500 feet of a public library,

Szpakowski said the investigation was continuing and urged anyone with information that might help investigators to call (609) 989-DRUG (3784).

Below is the original story, which appeared at 9:45 p.m. Feb. 16, 2012.

Authorities late this afternoon (Thursday, Feb. 16) carried out a raid at the Wonderland novelty and smoke shop in the 2700 block of Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1) in Lawrence Township.

Taking part in the raid, according to a law enforcement source, were Lawrence Township police, Trenton police and agents from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

Specific details about what authorities found, and what arrests were made, were not immediately available Thursday evening.

But at around 6:30 p.m. Lawrence Township detectives could be seen carrying several boxes out of the store and loading them into a police department van.