UNDERCOVER STING NABS SIX STORES FOR DRUG VIOLATIONS

You're a store clerk and a customer walks up to the cash register with
a set of digital scales, then says, "Man, I want to buy these to weigh
my cocaine."

What do you do? Hint: The correct answer is not "Complete the sale."

Six convenience-store owners in High Point learned that lesson the
hard way Friday as they and some of their employees were cited for
allegedly making such sales to undercover agents.

Officers from the state Division of Alcohol Law Enforcement and the
High Point Police Department issued citations for drug violations at
four stores on various parts of Green Drive, and at one each on Kivett
Drive and West English Road.

Undercover detectives bought scales, smoking pipes, rolling papers,
plastic bags and cigars, none of which amounted to a crime until the
purchaser told the clerk about their purported use with drugs, said
ALE investigator Chris Poole .

"They should have refused to sell at that point," Poole
said.

Cigars become a type of drug paraphernalia when the purchaser cuts
them open, removes the tobacco and replaces it with marijuana, Poole
said.

Clerks who allegedly completed such sales will be charged with
misdemeanor offenses involving possession and delivery of drug
paraphernalia. Misdemeanors are the less serious category of crime,
punishable by a jail sentence but often resolved with probation and
fines.

The store owners face the potential loss of their licenses to sell
beer and wine, suspension of those licenses or fines.

Each store will be reported to the state Alcoholic Beverage Control
Commission, which has the power to impose any of those penalties or a
combination of fines and suspensions, Poole said.

Stores that have ABC permits are prohibited from knowingly allowing
drug violations of any sort at their businesses.

"When someone has an ABC permit, that person is responsible for the
actions of his employees and anything that occurs on the licensed
premises," Poole said.

High Point police and ALE agents began the investigation after
receiving a number of complaints about stores selling material for
drug-abuse purposes, he said.

Undercover investigators tried to buy such material at 20 stores , but
were turned down at most after revealing their purpose was drug use,
Poole said.

"When you check 20 places and 14 won't sell, that says most people
know such sales aren't legal," he said.