INDIANAPOLIS — As the snow falls across downtown Indianapolis, police are working to crack down on the dealing of the drug, spice.
“This spice problem is an epidemic," Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer Phillip Smiley said,
Spice is often called “synthetic marijuana” or “fake weed” due to some of the similar chemicals found in marijuana. Side effects of this drug are found to cause extreme anxiety, hallucinations and even death.
"It's easy to get, it's hard to detect," Smiley said. "They can conceal it and be on the move. It's really hard for us officers, especially uniform officers to really combat that."
The downtown district conducted an undercover operation earlier this month which resulted in the arrest of three dealers.
"I know people are like 'where are the police, why aren't they doing something about this immediately?' and those guys are,” Smiley said. “You just don't know because they're out there dressed like everybody else."
IMPD officers believe dealers more are transient since the no-trespassing order at the American Legion Mall.
They also notice that drug dealers prey on the homeless.
“They have addiction issues and this spice solves their addiction issue for them,” Smiley said. “They are able to get it cheaply and it's readily available.”
Detectives have also seen dealers use electric scooters through downtown since they're readily available and easy to use.
“I think with the scooters it's just a crime of opportunity,” Smiley said. “If they aren't on scooters, they'll find another way to move their product around."
Officers will continue to patrol the streets and conduct undercover operations in hopes to arrest spice dealers who are causing a high number of overdoses downtown.
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