Four men have been arrested in connection with a plot to make synthetic pot that would have amounted to about $27 million on the street, authorities say.
Prosecutors announced the arrests of the men, ages 28, 26, 35 and 48, Tuesday. Three are from New Jersey and one is from New York.
Authorities executed 13 search warrants in five New Jersey towns, including at two 15,000 square foot warehouse spaces in Passaic and four storage units in Fort Lee and Lodi, and found all the materials needed to great a large volume of K2.
Prosecutors say they seized about 11,400 pounds of vegetation to which chemicals and flavorings are applied to make synthetic pot, 2,000 packets of synthetic pot ready for sale, about 500,000 empty packets and tools and equipment used in the synthetic pot production process.
Officials said the packages were made to be attractive to young people, featuring Scooby Doo, Hello Kitty and Angry Birds.
Synthetic pot use can lead to psychotic episodes and suicidal thoughts, authorities say.
Authorities say investigators also found 234 small bottles of bath salts and 32,290 male enhancement pills that contained an ingredient only to be accessible via prescription.
The men face charges ranging from first-degree maintaining or operating a controlled dangerous substance production facility to conspiracy to maintain such a facility, along with a series of drug offenses.
