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By DAVID CLOUSTON

Salina Journal

A raid in November by the I-135/I-70 Drug Task Force has resulted in new charges against the co-owner of a Salina tobacco shop.

Task Force Commander Lt. Jim Norton said Thursday that agents conducted the November search of Pack Rat Smokes, 695 S. Broadway, and seized a bag containing 98 grams of a white powder, which was analyzed by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation lab. This week, test results showed that the powder contained the illegal substance JWH-073.

The co-owner of the store, Brian Schultz, 51, who was arrested after that search, now faces additional felony drug charges in connection with the JWH-073.

The compound JWH-073 is one of literally hundreds of compounds, collectively called “synthetic cannabinoids,” developed over the past few decades by researchers investigating possible medical uses.

Norton said Schultz was also assessed with taxes of $71,000 by the Alcohol Beverage Control division of the Kansas Department of Revenue for possession of the illegal drug without a tax stamp — “just as if it were methamphetamine.”

Norton said ABC agents said that because Pack Rat Smokes is not solely owned by Schultz, and his business partner was found not to have violated any laws, officers can’t shut the business down or attempt to seize money or property from the business under the state’s forfeiture laws.

A forfeiture to fulfill the tax warrant can be accomplished only by seizing Schultz’s personal property, and that would be done through ABC agents, Norton said.

Schultz is scheduled for a court appearance at 8:30 a.m. Monday in Saline County District Court before District Judge Rene Young.

When they searched Pack Rat Smokes in November, police also seized thousands of small marijuana smoking pipes, 275 marijuana water bongs, multiple marijuana grinders, numerous baggies used to package marijuana and other drugs and weighing scales. They also seized 490 individually packaged bags of incense vegetation.

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