In a massive swoop in Georgia, about 50 Indian American convenience store owners and employees have been arrested and charged with selling substances used in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine (meth), a highly addictive stimulant.
An indictment unveiled in a US magistrate’s court on Monday said the arrests were made in six Georgia counties over the past month under an operation to hunt down peddlers of meth ingredients. Several of those arrested have been released on bonds ranging from $10,000 to $50,000.
Some of the defence attorneys have accused the investigators of targeting immigrant merchants, most of them of Indian origin. Attorney Steven Sadow, who is representing six defendants, said he will investigate if officials singled out Indians in their “Operation Meth Merchant”
But the Georgia authorities strongly defended the operation, saying the arrests were based on hard evidence. They claimed that “cooperating witnesses” went into each of the listed stores and purchased meth ingredients after telling the store clerk or owner that the items were being purchased to make meth.
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