Police Seize Synthetic Drugs In Raid
Resident, Store Owner Arrested In Woodstock
Posted: December 4, 2012
Local police and investigators with the RUSH Drug Task Force raided a Woodstock convenience store Friday afternoon, seizing what they said were large quantities of synthetic drugs and arresting a local man.
Maj. Scott Proctor with the Shenandoah County Sheriff’s Office said police executed a search warrant at B&L Discount House, 154 S. Commerce St., about 12:30 p.m.
“The store is commonly referred to in our area as the ‘hot spot,’” Proctor said.
Though he did not have exact amounts, as the evidence is still being processed, Proctor said police confiscated large quantities of bath salts and “K2,” as well as $190,000 in cash and three firearms.
Bath salts are synthetic stimulants that can be snorted, injected or smoked. K2, or “spice,” is a synthetic form of marijuana.
The owner of the store, Larry Franklin Walsh, 73, who also resides in the store building, was arrested on one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
Proctor said the raid was the culmination of an almost eight-month investigation.
“We had received information that the illegal sale of bath salts was taking place at that business,” he said.
Police also completed several controlled purchases of drugs at the location using confidential informants.
The Woodstock Police Department assisted the sheriff’s office in the investigation and execution of the search warrant.
Proctor said the bath salts and K2 were concealed behind the store’s counter.
“The large quantity of [cash], combined with the large [amounts of substances], [makes] this … one of the largest seizures we’ve had in our county,” he said.
Walsh was released Friday from Shenandoah County Jail on an unsecured bond. He is scheduled to appear in Shenandoah County General District Court on Dec. 14.
Proctor said the status of B&L Discount House is “unknown at this point.”
Synthetic drugs such as bath salts and K2 became illegal to possess and distribute in Virginia in 2011.
Contact Kaitlin Mayhew at 574-6290 or kmayhew@dnronline.com