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TAYLORSVILLE — A two-day roundup of people suspected of being involved in a large-scale Spice manufacturing and distribution ring in Salt Lake County has resulted in the arrests of five people and the seizure of hundreds of pounds of the synthetic drug.
Multiple search warrants were served throughout the valley on Monday and Tuesday at homes where investigators believed Spice was being manufactured.
Warrants were served in West Valley City, Cottonwood Heights and Taylorsville, including one at a storage shed, said Unified Police Lt. Justin Hoyal. Detectives discovered chemicals were being shipped to a Taylorsville UPS store and then taken to three homes to be made into Spice, packaged and distributed, he said.
The group was supplying smoke shops throughout the county with Spice, Hoyal said.
A full Spice lab was found at 1910 E. Ft. Union Blvd. Nearly 500 pounds of finished product was seized as well as more than 2,800 pounds of raw product, as well as 2,200 pounds of Damiana, an herb native to Mexico mostly used as an aphrodisiac.
Hoyal said thousands of spice containers and packaging materials, several pounds of precursor chemicals, three guns and two vehicles were also recovered.
KC Dickinson, 26, Sheri Dickinson, 48, Kevin Halper, 51, Emily Hollingshead, 22, and Amanda Wilson, 27, were booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of drug distribution.
Hoyal said the busts will put a "big dent" in Spice distribution in Salt Lake County.
Spice, also known as synthetic marijuana, is sold under several other brand names, including Black Mamba, Black Magic, Warlock, Pep Spice, Bliss and Bombay Blue. It's an herbal mixture with a synthetic base, namely tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, or the psychoactive component of marijuana plants.
In 2011, Gov. Gary Herbert signed a bill outlawing the sale of Spice in Utah.
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