$100 million in PCP seized in Los Angeles and Culver City

[ellisonz]

February 17, 2012 | 2:19 pm
-- Sam Allen

Nearly $100 million worth of PCP was seized in Los Angeles and Culver City and two suspects were arrested this week in what authorities described as a major bust of a drug-trafficking organization with operations throughout the country.

The suspects, Darryl Dwayne Burton and La Gina Huckaby, were arrested Wednesday after a monthlong investigation, said Lt. Scott Fairfield of the Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force, known as L.A. IMPACT. Officers found packages containing gallons of PCP in the suspects’ possession, he said, and then secured search warrants for several locations where the alleged drug ring was believed to be operating.

Authorities then discovered a total of approximately 130 gallons of phencyclidine, the chemical name for PCP, at the homes and storage facilities they searched, along with $389,000 in cash, two assault weapons and enough chemicals to produce roughly 500 additional gallons of PCP, L.A. IMPACT announced in a news release.

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“They were shipping and moving and dealing a huge amount of product,” Fairfield said. “It’s the largest PCP seizure I’ve ever heard of.”

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/02/100-million-in-pcp-seized-in-los-angeles-.html

[DisgustipatedinCA]

1. Poll time: who has ever seen PCP for sale?

I'm 42 years old. I've done coke, acid, mushrooms, ecstasy. I've seen heroin although I haven't ingested any. But I've never seen PCP, never heard of it being for sale, and I've never known anyone who claims to have taken it. If they found $100M worth of PCP (meaning $20M in narcspeak), that must be the tip of the iceberg, and there must be a greater-than-$20M market for the stuff. So who is taking it? And why?

[ellisonz]

2. Not me...

I might have some idea where the market might be:

(Note to jurors: don't hurt me )

[Purveyor]

3. I'm 54 and it was all over the place around mid-michigan. Powder and tabs mostly.

Didn't realize it was still around however.

[DocMac]

4. I have a few times.

Do you not remember angel dust?

It is a horse traquilizer. But if you ever watch zombie movies...well thats how it works.

It shouldn't be messed with. I'm 51 and can claim all that you did except heroin. I've never seen it or done it.

I could add to that list as well.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

5. I remember the name angel dust, and I knew it was another name for PCP

I just never saw it for sale. The only thing I remember about it may be apocryphal, but I recall hearing that Art Linkletter's daughter took it sometime in the late 60's, thought she could fly, and died trying. Again, I don't know if that's true or not, but maybe it's what scared me away from ever looking. Thanks.

[DocMac]

6. PCP may be one of the worst drugs.

A small amount can be the difference between a hospital vist or death. I went to a concert back in the day and snorted some. I never saw that concert because I was playing football outside at WVU by myself. My friends actually found me after and got me home.

I consider myself very lucky to have survived those years. The stupid in me, during those years, is astronomical.

[mike_c]

7. Not since the mid 1970s-early 80's....

That was in Northern Virginia, DC suburbs. It's foul stuff. I used it a couple of dozen times, probably-- it was popular among the loosely organized rural bikers that supplied hallucinogens to my social circle at the time, so we smoked PCP impregnated substrate-- usually dried parsley-- both at parties and when cannabis was in short supply. I remember to this day the chemical taste and the unpleasant, toxic buzz. Only time I ever got into a fight that didn't involve alcohol was with my younger brother when we were smoking PCP. We were both pretty ineffectual, LOL.

[BadGimp]

13. a guy I USED to know...

dropped PCP a fews times when he was <20

I remember HIM saying that that shit is too dangerous to exist

the level of hallicuination combined with the rush make it way too much too much, if you follow my meaning..

that`s how I remember the coonversation..

[MrSlayer]

15. I've seen for sale an awful lot.

At Dead shows back in the day and on the street. It seems to be more popular in gang culture than in mainstream society but I've come across it more than I liked. It turns you into a zombie with rubber limbs basically. I've seen friends suffer some pretty bad falls on it due to their inability to find the ground with their feet. I've been dusted twice and found the experience to be rather unpleasant. You literally can't move. You just have to sit there and wait for it to go away.

Zootie or Sherm as it is also called is out there and readily available.

[David__77]

17. Not I... which is surprising.

People I knew (not friends - usually weird biker types) had sometimes smoked pot laced with PCP - on purpose usually. I think that straight-up PCP use is pretty isolated from the broader "drug culture." I'm surprised at the magnitude of the stash though...

[Heddi]

18. I'm a Nurse in Seattle

and we see *tons* of PCP. Not as much as heroin and meth, but there are still a sizeable portion of people who are taking PCP. And they are such beasts to deal with when they're high, and there's *nothing* you can do to bring them down except tie them down and wait 8 hours :-/

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

19. I haven't seen it for sale, but a guy on PCP wandered into our office three years ago

911: "Have you forcefully asked the individual to leave the premises?"

This was after he threw a chair clear across the room...

[JonLP24]

20. I was thinking the same thing

Who would buy it when it would be very difficult to sell it, at places I've been.

[flamingdem]

8. Wow, isn't that bottom of the barrel for chemicals?

Wonder what's up with bringing back horse tranquilizers for recreation.

[ellisonz]

9. Some people just like to get wet.

[flamingdem]

11. hysterical!!!! Monty Python on PCP - as they used to say in High School

dust is not a bust, it used to be legal .. that's about all I remember, plus the ambulances taking the kids away who were on PCP! Ah, the good old days.

[ellisonz]

12. hopefully...

...this thread will dissuade DUers from giving PCP a go.

[madrchsod]

10. crazy shit..good thing it`s off the market

not good for man or beast...my dumb ass friends gave some to my cat..it was never the same.

dmt was even worse than pcp.

[XemaSab]

14. I'm with the people wondering who does that

If you want to trip there are better drugs, and if you want to get f***ed up there are better drugs.

The last time I heard of PCP in the news it was when Big Lurch ate his girlfriend.

[Snake Alchemist]

16. legalize it. NT

[quakerboy]

21. How much was the state budget shortfall again?

What do they do with the 389k in cash in a situation like this?

Then again it is PCP. If it was week, they should really just sell it and pay for some schools. PCP... maybe less so. Still, maybe there are veterinarians in other countries that would pay for the stuff?

[ellisonz]

22. Way more than that...

...I believe it is held pending trial/forfeiture proceeding and then goes to the police department and/or drug prevention programs.