HIGH POINT, N.C. — The High Point Police Department said they recently found thousands of counterfeit products resembling popular snacks and candy being used to disguise THC gummies and drugs.
The High Point Police Department said they checked 20 vape and CBD shops in High Point and found more than 8,800 counterfeit products with popular brand names.
Those brand names include:
- Louis Vuitton
- Disney
- Nintendo
- Marvel
- Frito-Lay
- Kellogg’s
- Mondelez (Oreo, Chips Ahoy and Sour Patch Kids)
- Coca-Cola
- Girl Scouts of the USA
The operation that occurred on October 20th and 27th included agents from the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State, North Carolina Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force, North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement Division and Homeland Security Investigations.
Out of everything they collected from these stores, they say the total comes to about $50,000.
“This looks like Doritos. If you saw this bag sitting in your kid's bedroom or a teacher saw it with that kid at school, you would just assume they had Doritos, when in fact it very well could be filled with the delta h or some THC product," said Lt. Kim Rieson with the High Point Police Department's Investigations Division.
Rieson said it can be hard to tell the difference.
"This is about educating the community and educating the public of the dangers of some of this stuff and the dangers of how it is packaged and how it is marketed," Rieson said.
They also found stores selling cans and bottles with hidden compartments to hide narcotics.
"So, for every parent out there, you should be concerned," High Point Police Department Chief Travis Stroud said. "For every kid, you should be concerned. For every school administrator, you should be concerned. Every business owner who's employing people to do a job out there, you should be concerned because this is floating around and could be in your environment.”
Police said they don’t believe these products are something that’s going to be given out to kids on Halloween.
"The problem is gonna be when the kids come home, and they've had their candy, and it's all mixed with something that mom, dad, some other adult in the house may have, one of these products, and then suddenly they can't distinguish the difference, and they grab these gummies, and suddenly they've consumed the wrong thing," Rieson said.
The department's advice is to pay attention to the packaging itself.
"If you look closely enough, most of them will actually somewhere, say in the corner, THC or it may say California with a little marijuana leaf," Rieson said.
The 20 stores didn’t get charged, but police said they’ll be back to check on them and make sure these products are gone. If not, they’ll then be charged.
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Published on October 31, 2022
By Maria DeBone
Source : WXII 12 News
Link to original : HPPD seize thousands of counterfeit products from CBD, vape stores disguised as THC gummies and drugs
