HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A judge on Wednesday ordered a convenience shop to be shut down after undercover narcotics officers with the Houston Police Department were able to purchase synthetic marijuana from the store clerk.
Earlier this year, Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan filed a suit against the owners of Brothers Meat Market, at 3134 East Crosstimbers, to stop the sale of synthetic pot, according to a news release from Ryan’s office.
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The clerk who sold the officers the drugs, Omar Jaber, had been hiding the synthetic marijuana -- a designer drug typically made overseas -- under the counter. After the sting, Jaber and one of the store owners, Ali Jaber Faiz, were arrested and charged with felony possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, investigators said.
Judge Grant Dorfman ordered the store closed due to ongoing criminal activity on the premises. Brothers Meat Market will remain shut down until a final trial, which is slated for March.
Authorities have been called to the shop numerous times. In June, a woman was beaten and stripped of her clothes in the parking lot, as people looked on. Last year, two men were shot on the premises, officials said.
In October, the county attorney also filed a suit against the KP Supermarket, which is accused of selling Kush. The supermarket sits directly across the street from Brothers Meat Market.
Synthetic pot is also called Kush. It’s sometimes marketed as a safe and legal alternative to marijuana -- often referred to as potpourri or incense. The drug isn’t marijuana at all; it’s a dried, leafy substance sprayed with powerful, added-in hallucinogenic chemicals that are dangerous and highly addictive to the user, officials said.
Kush is known to be marketed toward children and is the second-most abused drug by high school students. It is illegal in Texas.
Ryan, along with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the city of Houston, consider the court order a big victory in the ongoing battle against synthetic marijuana.
Read the order for contempt by clicking here.