This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Police are saying a two-day series of raids in Salt Lake County have taken down a large, well-organized "spice" manufacturing and distribution ring.
Unified Police Lt. Justin Hoyal said Wednesday that five suspects were taken into custody during raids Monday and Tuesday on three homes in Taylorsville, West Valley City and Cottonwood Heights. Search warrants also were served on lockers at two Taylorsville storage facilities.
Arrested and booked into Salt Lake County Jail on suspicion of multiple felony counts of distribution and manufacturing of controlled substances were two men, ages 26 and 51, and three women, ages 48, 27 and 21.
"Detectives found through the investigation that illegal chemicals were shipped to a Taylorsville UPS store and then taken to [the suspects' homes] to be manufactured and packaged. A full service spice lab was located at the Cottonwood Heights address," Hoyal said.
In all, detectives seized nearly 500 pounds of spice and another 2,820 pounds of "raw product" awaiting manufacture into the synthetic marijuana-like substance, Hoyal said. Also found were thousands of containers for distributing the spice, spice label rolls, three firearms and an unspecified amount of cash.