Undercover Police Buy Hallucinogens From Uber Driver

Many arrests for felony drug offenses, such as drug trafficking, occur as the result of undercover police operations.  Confidential informants or undercover officers buy drugs from defendants on several occasions, usually after communicating with them by text message or secretly recording their phone conversations with the defendants.  Once the police have enough evidence to charge the defendant with something worse than simple possession, the police badges come out and they make an arrest, or else they ask the court for an arrest warrant or a search warrant.  In the movies, undercover sting operations usually happen in motel rooms or street corners, but as everyone who has ever consumed drugs in a posh setting knows, you can consume drugs almost anywhere, so the police can catch you doing so almost anywhere, even your workplace.  If you are facing criminal charges because someone you thought was a customer at your workplace was actually an undercover cop trying to catch you in the act of drug crimes, contact a West Palm Beach drug offenses lawyer.

Looking for Drugs in All the Wrong Places

Anyone from South Florida can tell you that the Sunshine State gets a lot less interesting once you get north of Tampa or, by some estimates, north of Jupiter.  The northern two thirds of Florida are full of inexpensive vacation spots, though.  Nothing makes a visit to a boring town more fun than a friendly driver, and in the age of cannabis decriminalization, rideshare drivers in an increasing number of cities are happy to give advice about where to get weed.  You might even find one who shares his stash with you.

No one expects the glove compartment of an Uber car to be a cornucopia of hallucinogens, though.  Police who went to Walton County for a law enforcement convention were surprised when their Uber driver opened his glove box to reveal an array of LSD tabs and psilocybin mushrooms.  Without letting on that they were cops, the passengers bought some drugs and exchanged contact information.  They came back several times, and by the time they arrested the driver, they had bought thousands of dollars’ worth of drugs, including hundreds of LSD gel tabs and a quarter pound of magic mushrooms.  LSD is a Schedule I controlled substance.  Psilocybin mushrooms are also Schedule I, although, from a legal perspective, they are the next cannabis, with initiatives in many states to decriminalize or reschedule them in order to investigate their medical applications.

The driver is John Alcott of Crestview.  Alcott, 52, is facing charges for trafficking in hallucinogens, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia, and use of a two-way communication device in commission of a felony.

Contact a West Palm Beach Criminal Defense Lawyer Today

Attorney William Wallshein has more than 38 years of experience, including five years as a prosecutor in Palm Beach County.  Contact William Wallshein P.A. in West Palm Beach, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

hightimes.com/news/uber-driver-allegedly-doubled-as-shroom-lsd-dealer/