The article below tells an all too common tale. A criminal figures they can rip someone else off by selling them fake drugs. The problem is that in many jurisdictions, sale of an imitation controlled substance is also illegal. Remember that next time you are thinking of ways to make a quick buck. Selling “bunk” is not a criminal defense, it’s still illegal!
In a classic case of “buyer beware,” an Apple Valley man was busted last week for allegedly selling what were supposedly drugs, but which actually would give nothing more than a sugar high.
Christin Marcelle Banks, 19, faces two felony charges in Dakota County after he allegedly sold what he said were ecstasy pills to an undercover cop. It turned out that most of the “pills” were Skittles candies.
The undercover Dakota County Drug Task Force officer met with Banks, who lives in Apple Valley, on Dec. 22 and bought 21 pills, according to a criminal complaint. The St. Paul Police Department Crime Lab confirmed that two of the pills were indeed ecstasy.
In a second sale Dec. 30, the undercover officer paid Banks $1,500 for what he said were 200 ecstasy pills. Police determined that all of them were only Skittles.
The funny part is that in one of the police crime labs I used to work in, we had techniques and recipes for making bunk, for the officers to sell suspects as parts of undercover operations.
Read the whole StarTribune.com article here.
