The Colorado Attorney General’s Office has reached a $160,000 civil settlement with O’s Pipes & Tobacco, the largest in the country against a store owner for selling synthetic drugs known as spice.
Orlando Martinez, owner of the shop on East Colfax Avenue, will pay the penalty over a three-year-and-four-month period, according to a release. It is the largest civil settlement against a store owner for selling spice.
Investigators with the AG’s office and the Department of Revenue purchased spice products at the shop during an undercover sting on Sept. 9, 2013.
Following the undercover purchase, the Department of Revenue removed 1,319 packages of the product from the store. The Colorado Bureau of Investigations tested four of the packages, and all tested positive for synthetic cannabinoids.
Some of the products contained a synthetic cannabinoid that was associated with a batch of the product that sent 221 people to emergency rooms, the release said.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671, tmcghee@denverpost.com or @dpmcghee
