That was in Montana, for Christ's sake. Find me one from a major metro area where they have real crime problems. 5 years and 50K fine is nothing compared to doing 20+ in federal custody for selling the real thing. If you were a prosecutor, which conviction is going to give you more clout? The fake drug bust or the real thing? Not saying it never happens, but this whole argument is a distraction from the real topic at hand:
Now you are moving the goal posts. Nowhere in our previous dialogue did you mention it had to be in a metro area nor did you say the severity of he punishment had to be the same.
Anyway, is New York City enough of a major metro area that has real problems to suit your new qualifiers?
For Tourists Seeking Drugs, an Experience That’s Less Than Authentic
Lace Gentlemen’s Club, on Seventh Avenue in Manhattan, has posted a sign warning customers about “street hustlers and con men” who work nearby.
RICHARD PERRY / THE NEW YORK TIMES
JANUARY 30, 2015
Crime Scene
By MICHAEL WILSON
P. T. Barnum declared over 100 years ago that there is one born every minute. But where, when they grow up to become adults who visit New York, do they go to buy cocaine?
One answer can be found in recent arrests in Midtown Manhattan, specifically on Seventh Avenue in the upper 40s. As good an example as any played out on Sept. 12 at 2:40 a.m., when an unidentified man wearing a suit struck up a conversation with a 26-year-old stranger, Mohamed Saho, on the street, according to a criminal complaint.
Mr. Saho offered to sell the man cocaine for $60, the complaint states. The pair walked to West 47th Street, and the man in the suit handed over the cash and tucked his drugs into the breast pocket of his jacket.
A police officer saw it all happen, and approached to make arrests. The officer examined the contents of the pocket, calling upon “my training and experience in identifying drugs,” according to the complaint.
“I placed the substance in water,” he wrote. Plopping and fizzing ensued. The powder caused the water “to bubble like Alka-Seltzer,” the officer wrote, adding: “I know based on my training and experience that cocaine does not react in this manner when mixed with water.”
Whatever disappointment the man seeking drugs felt upon realizing he had been duped and how close he had come to snorting cold medicine was presumably offset by the relief — and oh, as the jingle goes, what a relief it is — of being free to go. Mr. Saho was not quite as lucky, but almost: He was charged with lesser offenses than selling cocaine, including a misdemeanor charge of possessing an imitation controlled substance and another of fraudulent accosting. He accepted a deal under which the case would be dismissed in the future if he stayed out of trouble.
It was not an isolated incident. On Feb. 2, the police arrested a 51-year-old man, on West 46th Street, who was carrying marijuana but who told officers, “I sell fake cocaine,” the police said. And on July 24 at 4 a.m., a suspect who offered to sell a stranger cocaine was arrested and admitted the drugs were fake, according to another criminal complaint. This time the substance was the pain reliever BC Powder.
“Aspirin, baby powder, talcum powder,” said an employee at Lace Gentlemen’s Club on Seventh Avenue near West 48th Street. The employee, who declined to give his name, said he had seen many fake-drug deals conducted outside the club. The dealers seem to be targeting the club’s customers, who are, rightly or not, believed to be tourists who are gullible and have cash in their pockets.
“Old-school stuff still works here,” the employee said. “They’re blatant. If you’re standing around outside, they’ll walk up to you.”
It has become enough of a problem that Lace printed a warning and mounted it inside the front door. “Be advised,” it reads, “street hustlers and con men work on 7th Avenue.” The sign cautions against talking to men posing as Lace employees who will attempt to lure the customers elsewhere.
Lace is next door to a building with offices and recording studios. An employee at the Steve Maxwell Vintage and Custom Drums store next door said he had been approached on the sidewalk. “They say, ‘Coke, weed, whatever you want, man, I got it,’ ” he said.
The Lace employee said he had seen men prop open the neighboring building’s doors late at night and invite passers-by inside with promises of women or drugs, only to rob them. He said the victims do not call the police because of the circumstances of the robbery.
He said he tried not to get involved. “You don’t mess with our business, we don’t mess with your business,” he said.
Deputy Inspector John Hart, commanding officer of the local precinct, said that the selling of fake drugs had been an issue since 2007. “Their goal is to get drunk people,” he said.
The police provided information on three arrests involving drugs or fake drugs, but added that six other arrests had been sealed, a likely result of drug charges having been dropped when police lab results indicated there were no illegal drugs present.
Some of the drugs would seem to be the real thing, as the Lace employee said he had noticed regular customers returning. A host at TSQ Brasserie, near 48th Street, said he had seen men on the subway he recognized from Seventh Avenue, asking “tourist ladies” if they wanted anything.
“It seems like it’s back in the ’80s, before Giuliani took over,” a different Lace employee said. “The tourists, they fall for it. ‘I’ve got girls around the corner. I’ve got drugs.’ Whatever. The cops lock them up every night. They get right back out.”
