Police seize synthetic drugs from Carpentersville businesses

Carpentersville police and Illinois attorney general investigators seized nearly $8,000 of illegal synthetic drugs as part of a statewide crack down, authorities said.

Law enforcement officials left with 448 packages of synthetic drugs from two Carpentersville businesses.

Investigators seized 356 packages from Buddeez Smoke Shop, 3 N. Washington Street worth an estimated $6,936, and 92 packages from Egor's, 2 Wisconsin Street, with a street value of $994, according to the Illinois State's attorney's office.

The bust was part of a statewide initiative named “Operation Smoked Out,” targeting the sale of synthetic drugs from retail stores.

Carpentersville Police Chief Alan Popp said in a news release that synthetic drugs are a “growing problem” in the community.

According to the attorney general's office, there were 6,890 calls to poison control centers related to synthetic marijuana use in 2011, up from 2,915 in 2010. In 2011, there were 6,072 calls from bath salt-related problems, up from 303 in 2010.

State legislators have taken up a bill that would crack down on the retail sale of synthetic drugs, although many municipalities have already banned the substances.

The bill would make it illegal to sell the drugs and significantly increase the penalty for doing so.

Illinois originally passed a law banning specific formulas of synthetic marijuana and bath salts, but drugmakers sidestepped the laws by slightly altering their formulas.