Levittown-Area Cop Played Role in Smoke Shop Drug Investigation

A local police officer played a big role in the investigation that lead to the Wednesday evening raid and seizure of synthetic marijuana and drug paraphernalia from a Newtown Borough smoke shop, an official said Thursday.

District Attorney David Heckler said an undercover police officer from one of the departments that covers the Levittown area played a big role in the investigation, which was headed by Northampton police. The department the officer works for is being withheld in order to protect his cover.

Authorities said they seized “spices,” which are synthetic marijuana and roughly $10,000 worth of drug paraphernalia from the Tobacco Leaf on State Street during the evening raid.

Here’s what was seized:

• 177 pipes
• 21 grinders
• 70 scales
• 300 packages of “spices”

The investigation, according to a press release from authorities, started when the drug made several teens “violently ill and disoriented.”

Inside the store, drug paraphernalia was clearly on display, according to police. Customers wanting the synthetic marijuana. which were marked “not for human consumption,” had to asked a clerk specifically for the product, police said.

The fake marijuana was priced between $20 and $40. Police said the drugs were sold under the names Orgasmo, Bizarro and Funky Monkey.

When a customer purchased the illegal synthetic marijuana, the money was placed in an area separate from the cash register, which was used for legitimate sales, police said.

Deborah Kiernicki, 42,  of Northampton, was arrested in conjunction with the narcotics investigation, police said. The 42-year-old is alleged to have driven teens to the Newtown shop and purchase “spices” for them, police said. They added that she would allow them to smoke the product in her home, even joining in some times. She would also buy beer for the teens, and get gas money in return, police said. She was arrested and arraigned in late May and sent to county jail on 10 percent of $50,000 bail.

Heckler told LevittownNow.com he is “infuriated” by the people who sell synthetic marijuana. He added that county and local authorities are aggressively going after the “knuckleheads who keep this stuff behind the counter.”

The Tobacco Leaf is frequented by residents of Middletown and Langhorne.

Bystanders watched from the streets as investigators took boxes out of the shop and took them away as evidence.

Heckler hailed the work area police did in the case.

“Across the commonwealth, there’s a battle with the people who create these products,” he said.

“One way or another, [synthetic marijuana] has serious effects,” he said, citing numerous accidents and deaths in the county caused by the illegal products.

Police said charges are pending against the owner of the business.

LevittownNow.com Editor/Publisher Jeff Bohen and reporter Dave Sommers contributed to this article.