75 Students Arrested In University Drug Bust

California Children Authorities seized cocaine Ecstasy pills marijuana psychedelic mushrooms hash oil methamphetamine illicit prescription drugs several guns and at least $60000 in cash

by Allison Hoffman, Associated Press Writer (Salon.com)

Published: Tue, May 06, 2008 - 2:06 pm CST Last Updated: Tue, May 06, 2008 - 2:14 pm CST

Dozens of San Diego State University students were arrested after a sweeping drug investigation found that some fraternity members openly dealt drugs and one even sent a mass text message advertising cocaine, authorities said Tuesday.

Two kilograms of cocaine were seized, along with 350 Ecstasy pills, marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms, hash oil, methamphetamine, illicit prescription drugs, several guns and at least $60,000 in cash, authorities said.

Of the 96 people arrested, 75 were students. Eighteen of the students were arrested Tuesday when nine search warrants were executed at various locations including fraternities, said Jesse Rodriguez, San Diego County assistant district attorney.

The undercover probe, dubbed Operation Sudden Fall, was sparked by the cocaine overdose death of a student in May 2007, authorities said. As the investigation continued, another student, from Mesa College, died Feb. 26 of a cocaine overdose at an SDSU fraternity house, the DEA said.

Those arrested included a student who was about to receive a criminal justice degree and another who was to receive a master's degree in homeland security. Some defendants were scheduled to appear in state court to face charges Tuesday.

During the probe investigators discovered that in some fraternities most members were aware of "organized drug dealing occurring from the fraternity houses by its members," the Drug Enforcement Administration said in a news release.

"Undercover agents purchased cocaine from fraternity members and confirmed that a hierarchy existed for the purpose of selling drugs for money," the DEA said.

The district attorney's office said search warrants were served in San Diego and suburban La Mesa, including the Theta Chi fraternity house and several apartments.

A member of Theta Chi sent out a mass text message to his "faithful customers" stating that he and his "associates" would be unable to sell cocaine while they were in Las Vegas over one weekend, according to the DEA. The text promoted a cocaine "sale" and listed the reduced prices.

Theta Chi, founded in 1856, has 131 chapters in the U.S. and Canada and more than 161,000 initiates. A message left at the fraternity's Indianapolis headquarters was not immediately returned.

University police and federal drug agents worked together in the investigation, making more than 130 undercover drug buys were made at locations including fraternity houses, student parking areas and dormitories, authorities said.

Shawn Collinsworth, executive director of the national office of Phi Kappa Psi, said he was told by two of the SDSU fraternity chapter's leaders that four of its members were arrested. He added the fraternity is cooperating with the investigation.

"It isn't behavior becoming of Phi Kappa Psi," Collinsworth said.

San Diego State is one of the largest schools in California's state university system with about 34,000 students. The campus has an active network of fraternities and sororities.

WKRG.com » News Stream » National

Video
Photo

Embed:

WKRG.com Related

Data –› College Navigator

Discuss this in the forum

Email to a Friend

Printer Friendly

Download Video

Page 1 of 2 pages 1 2 >

rosepetal Says:

Wed, Jul 16, 2008 at 1:39 am

theTonster , you are something, have a good night and thank you for the information.

theTonster Says:

Wed, Jul 16, 2008 at 12:57 am

rosepetal, thank you for your kindness.
Truth is, I drink only with meals at home, or in a place like Delmonico’s in New Orleans.
Drinking got me nowhere with the women that mattered, so I ditched the bar scene. Too smoky then, anyway. Now the bars are smoke-free, but they’ve been so far out of my orbit for so long, why bother?
. . .
The Sea of Cortez sounds romantic, but it is all desert on the Baja side, and the East shore is mostly flat farmland. Mérida, Yucatán is also low and flat, but with steamy jungles and Maya ruins. That’s from a quick look with Google Earth just now. It ain’t all beaches & resorts down yonder.
Buenos Noches=good nachos=good night, etc. I ought to make a home page and invite you with its URL, but not this morning, alas! Fun sharing ideas with you.

rosepetal Says:

Wed, Jul 16, 2008 at 12:11 am

theTonster, no worries mate, i do not even drink
but you stay safe.

theTonster Says:

Wed, Jul 16, 2008 at 12:08 am

I’m thinking of moving to the Colorado Plateau country, someplace like Moab, Utah or Flagstaff, Arizona. Love ‘em both. Dark night skies, so I can see the Milky Way again. Impossible in Seattle. I counted 4 stars in what little sky I could see, just now; and it is a clear night here.
I hope you and your family know enough Spanish to get by; I don’t, then or now, though I have many Mexican neighbors in these apartments.
Germany—forever Deutschland, to me—was endlessly fascinating in my Army days. I grew to love the place, but now it has grown so rich I couldn’t afford to live there now.
So News5 doesn’t get upset and cut us off: Hemp is grown legally in Mexico, France and Canada; perhaps the Fratties in the article may go there and help with the harvest.
On the way to Mexico, pull off I-10; where Theodore-Dawes crosses Old Pascagoula is a Winn-Dixie, and Time To Eat—great chow, and great staff. I know one of the waitresses there, too. ¡Hasta la vista!

rosepetal Says:

Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 11:30 pm

lol we are trying to move to mexico, just trying to get as much info as possible, looking at the sea of cortez or maybe merida.

theTonster Says:

Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 11:28 pm

rosepetal, only once, back in 1966. Went in at Tijuana,drove east 50 miles to Tecate, and came back into California. Stopped once for some pop. It didn’t impress me favorably. However, I find Cervezas Méxicanas muy bueno, IMHO.
Btw, rose, why do you ask?

rosepetal Says:

Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 11:15 pm

theTonster , ever been to mexico?

theTonster Says:

Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 10:42 pm

rosepetal, there is a good writeup with good illustrations in Wikipedia. Yes, it has been around a loooonnng time; 10,000 years or more. One of the oldest Chinese Characters is<i> ma<\i>, their word for hemp. George Washington grew it; Benjamin Franklin founded a paper mill that used only hemp for feedstock. I have a bag made of the fiber. It is tough stuff, and perfectly legal.
Finally, Seattle is known for its Hempfest, where you can get all kinds of neat, legal things made of the weed.
. . .
By now the SDSU Fratboys are out of jail, I hope; and working to pay the fines and court costs.

rosepetal Says:

Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 9:30 pm

theTonster , well such is life, think i will have to pass on the hemp. but weed was mentioned in some old 30,s albums i was listening to one time, it was called funny weed. guess its been around for a while.

theTonster Says:

Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 9:26 pm

Hemp is a bushy, skinny-leaved plant that goes by a gazillion names, starting with the Latin; Cannabis Sativa.
Yup, a k a Marijuana, Mary Jane, Gage, and so on.
You may see it growing nearby, because it was cultivated all over the South and Midwest during WW II, when Philippine Sisal and Jute got scarce. The stuff makes great ropes, and indestructible bags when woven into cloth. It would even make a passable ornamental privacy screen, to hide the Watermelon- or Pumpkin-patch you don’t want people to know you have growing.

Page 1 of 2 pages 1 2 >