Franklin County Drug Task Force Makes 38 Buys, Executes 17 Search Warrants During Operation Synthetic Drugs

Seven teams of the Franklin County Drug Task Force fanned out across central Ohio Wednesday as part of Operation Synthetic Drugs.

Between 2-8 p.m., teams visited 148 stores, making 38 different buys of synthetic drugs, 10TV’s Kevin Landers reported.

The buys included spice and K2, which are synthetic marijuana, and bath salts, a synthetic opiate that mimics cocaine and can cause violent hallucinations and death.

Eighteen search warrants were executed during three waves of the operation around the Ohio State University campus, north and south Columbus and the west side, Landers reported.

“I am surprised,” Lt. Shawn Bain of the Franklin County Drug Task Force said. “I didn’t think we’d find this much, and this is just one of 18 different locations we went to today.”

The Joint, located on North High Street south of Ohio State’s campus, was temporarily shut down Wednesday when task force officials said that they found $70,000 worth of K2 and bath salts.

Task force members said that they found 23 different containers of bath salts and synthetic marijuana at The Joint, Landers reported.

The bath salts were sold as hookah cleaner called “Crystal Bubbly.”

Officials also said that they found the products at High Up Head Shop And Water Pipes, also located on North High Street near campus, and Lockbourne Smoke Shop, located on Lockbourne Road, Landers reported.

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