The manager of several Smoke 911 stores in metro Atlanta was being held without bond in the Cherokee County jail Wednesday for allegedly hawking illegal bath salts and banned formulations of synthetic marijuana.
Smoke 911, a chain of adult novelty and tobacco stores, had been under scrutiny for months by federal and local law enforcement agencies seeking to eradicate the designer drugs from store shelves. Smoke 911 has locations in Woodstock, Sandy Springs, Roswell, and Acworth.
Serena P. Burkard was arrested Tuesday evening after she sold illegal bath salts to an undercover narcotics agent while she was working at the sales counter inside the Woodstock store, according to Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad commander Phil Price. Burkard was charged with the sale of a schedule 1 controlled substance.
Authorities subsequently searched Burkard’s Chevrolet Uplander and confiscated $10,269 in cash, 182 packages of synthetic weed and 26 packages of suspected bath salts. Burkard’s attorney, Bruce Harvey, could not be reached Wednesday because he was in court. Smoke 911’s attorney Steve Sadow declined comment.
Price said the company was put on notice March 28 that Gov. Nathan Deal had signed Senate Bill 370, known as “Chase’s Law,” effectively banning certain types of synthetic marijuana and bath salts. Smoke 911 was notified again in June that state officials had banned several newer formulations of synthetic marijuana, Price said.
Bath salts, sometimes marketed as plant food, come in crystal or powder-like form and have effects similar to methamphetamine, ecstasy or cocaine. Synthetic marijuana, made by spraying chemicals on dried plant material, is also sometimes labeled as potpourri or incense. It is designed to mimic the effects of marijuana.
Two deaths in Georgia have been associated with use of synthetic marijuana.
According to federal prosecutors, the stores are owned by Michael T. Madlem and Burkard, his girlfriend, manages them.
Federal agents seized the couple’s bank accounts Aug. 24 as part of an investigation into money laundering claims. They also executed search warrants on two homes owned by Madlem. At the same time, Cherokee County narcotics investigators seized some synthetic marijuana products from the Smoke 911 store in Woodstock.
Neither Madlem nor Burkard were arrested.
Since the August raid, investigators have received several complaints from citizens that Burkard was selling synthetic weed and bath salts from her car in the store parking lot, Price said.
Price said he was surprised the pressure exerted by law enforcement thus far didn’t deter continued sales of the outlawed products.
“We’re just going to continue making cases and putting people in jail until they quit doing it,” Price said.
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