Cops Arrest Cupcake-Baking Drug Dealer
MIAMI (CBS4)- Police on Friday arrested a drug dealer for baking marijuana into cupcakes and selling them to high school students.
"It's harder for the police to be suspicious because it's a cupcake," said Police Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro to CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald. "They can carry it and the police can't tell unless you eat them eat them and get high."
The narco-baker arrest was part of South Miami Police Department's "Operation Spring Cleaning," a crackdown against drug dealing in the city. South Miami police, working with other law enforcement agencies, arrested 11 people in the second such sweep in six months, according to the Herald.
This time around, police confiscated stolen property such as laptops and cell phones, as well as machetes and more than $3,000. They also confiscated 1.5 pounds of hydroponic marijuana, which they believe was being baked into cupcakes and sold at local high schools, though police aren't sure which ones.
The cupcakes were chocolate flavor and individually wrapped in aluminum foil. Police think the entrepreneurial pastry baker, whose identity was not released, was buying more than $2,000 worth of pot a week. Not all of it was used in baked goods, though.
"They can be a little creative and put it in a cupcake," said department spokesman Maj. René Landa. "I don't know if that guy had a girlfriend or something to come over and help him."
For two months, officers investigated suspected drug dealers in South Miami and made purchases of marijuana and cocaine. They identified 14 different suspects. Of those, police arrested nine, plus two additional suspects not previously identified.
The operation included the execution of two search warrants carried out simultaneously around 6 a.m. by SWAT teams from the cities of Miami and Coral Gables.
"The recidivism rate on narcotics is very high. So the arrests today are just to take them out until they come back. We have to continue," said City Manager Hector Mirabile.
The drug sweep is just one component of "Operation Broken Windows," an effort including police and code enforcement officials to improve the city's Community Redevelopment Area by cracking down on code violations and illegal activity.
"Those residents who live in that area feel intimated. They feel secluded. We want to clear the streets so they feel secure," Martinez de Castrosaid. "I'm going to continue to do it until we push it out."
(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed material for this report)
