Police warn of fake drugs scam

Murphy – Law enforcement officials are warning citizens that some drug dealers are selling sheetrock as either cocaine or heroin. 

The scam came to light last week, when sheriff’s deputies apprehended a man who had been indicted on charges out of Clay County. After pulling over the man in the parking lot of the former No Name Deli, officials searched his vehicle and found a baggie containing drywall that was grounded into fine particles.

"He was probably trying to sell it and rip somebody off,” Sheriff Derrick Palmer told the Cherokee Scout at the scene. “He was either cutting dope with it or selling it as pseudo drugs.”

Since police could not prove he had planned to do anything illegal with the sheetrock, they could not charge him for having it. 

“If we were doing an undercover buy and he presented that as heroin, we could still charge him with heroin,” Palmer said.

Officials conducted an extensive search of the man’s vehicle and tested the drywall several times to determine whether it contained traces of cocaine or heroin before transporting him to the county line, where he was turned over to Clay County authorities.