Jezebel
A year ago this month this pretty young San Diego State University Alpha Phi sister Jennifer Poliakoff died tragically at age 19 of what appeared to be alcohol poisoning. Well, it turned out to be a cocaine overdose... and the coke turned out to be pretty strong... and then someone else died at a SDSU frat house, and, well, to make a long story short, it turned out the San Diego State Greek system was operating a drug ring so massive and highly-connected it sounds like the stuff of an Akon interview, except it is true. (And we thought college Greek organizations/San Diego State students were good for nothing!) Today the San Diego feds announced they had arrested 96 young people in conjunction with the drug ring , 75 of whom were students, in connection with the drug ring. And if you're like me, you're thinking, "Too bad, those were probably 75 of the smartest kids on campus."
"A sad commentary is that when one of these individuals was arrested, they inquired as to whether or not his arrest and incarceration would have an effect on his becoming a federal law enforcement officer," a DEA spokesman said. No shit. Apparently they had connections to a major cartel.
A student majoring in criminal justice was arrested for possession of 500 grams of cocaine and two guns, officials said.Anyway, for once I don't have a strident/outraged/contrarian opinion. I'm thinking the same thing as you: HOLY SHIT TELL ME MORE. (And also: so that is where you could still, until recently, buy good coke.)As part of the investigation, officers infiltrated seven campus fraternities. In some fraternities, most of the members were aware of organized drug dealing occuring from the houses by members, officials said.
In one instance, a member of the Theta Chi fraternity sent out a mass text message to his "faithful customers" stating that he and his associates would be in Las Vegas for the weekend and cocaine sales could not be made.
The message said there was a "sale" on cocaine and listed reduced prices.
Yearlong Probe Results In 96 Arrests [San Diego Union-Tribune]
Comments
I was thinking the same thing actually.
I didn't realize cocaine ever went on sale.
haha! last year at my school, a girl in pre-law got in a fight at a bar and broke a beer mug over the bartenders face! no more law school for her! schadenfreude, anyone?
Not super surprising as they're close to Mexico. I've had some good coke in SD. Just saying.
Sad, though.
Meh, coke doesn't really work me into any sort of fervor, nor does news of it.
Okay, just to head off all of the fraternity/sorority shit--of course this happens. When you get smart people who are well-networked--"well-organized drug-dealing" is just as possible as "well-organized charity fundraising."
Darnit, that's one less insta-corrupted law enforcement officer. Future: 1 point Present: -96 points
500 grams? Holy hell.
I was visiting my cousin in SD once, and one of his friends had flown down from Seattle with 7 grams of coke. I couldn't believe his balls.
And if you're like me, you're thinking, "Too bad, those were probably 75 of the smartest kids on campus."
Being "the smartest kid" on the SDSU campus isn't much of an accomplishment.
@blackbirdfly: It does after they cut it with flour ;-)
this is similar to the deaths of two NYC coeds from tainted heroin a couple of years back. of course no one really cared until those girls died because they were so beautiful and beautiful people don't do drugs, right? i mean, even moe couldn't resist telling us that the girl was pretty.
f.y.i. i used the above story for my spec script for SVU. stabler loses his mind.
@Gumbina80: Hey now.....let's not start knocking the Cal State system. I went to a UC and I don't even talk shit.
Wow, university market and economic classes have got progressive.
I keep thinking of the student who is one month shy of getting a Master's degree.
They don't seem very smart to me. And quite a few are crimminal justice majors.
"Officials said one of the students arrested on suspicion of selling cocaine was a month away from getting his master's degree in homeland security and another worked as a student community service officer and reported to campus police."
i don't really care if they were in frats or in sororities, i just like it when hyprocrits eat their own shit.
This is why I don't do drugs. Just weed.
How many of the 75 were dealing? That's a very big group to keep focused on secrecy. Or anything, actually. I doubt you could get that many people to agree to eat chicken wings.
@Archetype: I'm from SD and have family members who went to State. Trashing Aztecs is in my blood.
Cannot wait to see the L&O version of this.
@southernbitch: Glad to see these are the type of people who'll be in charge in the future of our security!
@Gumbina80: And *ahem* have been intimate with a Theta Chi. This story made my day.
@MyFirstAndLastName: Ripped from the headlines!
Except it'll take place at a vaguely named school on the east coast.. like Eastern Hudson University or something
@bess marvin, girl detective: I remember that. They snuck into Manhattan to go to sketchy clubs and do heroin and speedballs with sketchy drug dealers.
And their families were like "NO this is a lie they were such good girls!"
@noseriously: It seems that by sending out mass texts advertising a sale on coke, they were not really keen on keeping anything too discreet.
@braak: Yeah, I MAY have dated a few people in the past (college) who MAY have been dealers. But only one was in a fraternity.
As long as our country wages the war on drugs, drugs will continue to be cheaper, easier to get, and more dangerous.
This kind of thing always boggles my mind because while I don't do drugs and never have (I tried pot twice and didn't care for it) I know people at my school who do, and I know who to call if I wanted some, but what I don't understand is where they get it, or how they find out where to get it in the first place. You know? Like, these are people that I really don't see sneaking down to the docks in a trench coat, you know? Not that there even are docks in Jackson, but whatever.
@jenalicious: Yes, and the plot will no doubt involve a red herring concerning a corrupt and rapey professor/administrator.
@blackbirdfly: Well, you know, once the summer season starts, it's all about the pot.
@ToniRockyhorror: for real. that is not smart.
@braak: This is exactly right. The kids that ran the drug ring at my high school in Tempe? Pretty brilliant kids. The trick is to graduate on to other things... the ones who stopped dealing drugs once they got to college and applied themselves are now successful in other things. The ones that stayed on that path are now either in prison or clean tables to score dime bags on the weekends. So basically it's just like Vegas, quit while you're ahead.
Also, hey everybody. Had to take a Jezebreak... I was seriously getting behind in my work. Plus this place was getting kinda... weird... for a while. Maybe the infighting as died down a bit.
@girlscoutcookie: pretty much all the drugs in Mississippi come from the Gulf coast. Just FYI.
@bess marvin, girl detective: You need to emhpasise that the baddies were rich college kids.
@JaneChampagne: Uh, if our country legalized drugs they would be cheaper and easier to get as well, so what's the difference?
@mbprice: You're from Tempe? Which high school did you go to?
Ah. I see the parallels between Eliot Spitzer and these "future" law-enforcement idiots.
Above the law, anyone?
@blackbirdfly: Yeah, I could've called that, now that I think about it.
@southernbitch: Either we went to the same college or there's a lot of young coeds hitting bartenders in the face with beer mugs.
Go Dawgs!
@blackbirdfly: 3 grams for the price of 2 when you also purchase a dimebag.
@Gumbina80: This story coming out of SD does not surprise me in the least. So glad I got out of SoCal and that I wasn't from there to begin with. (Apologies to all Southern Californians, but hearing high school douches-in-training plan their next weekend in Tijuana--tequila, pills, and 13-year-old sex workers included--made me hate that vacuous cesspool of spray-on tans, BMWs, and knee-jerk conservatism so so much.)
I think somebody sending out txts with coke pricing != smartest person on campus.
@MyFirstAndLastName: Corona. Or, to make it relevant to this post, Cokerona.
@Archetype: His seven eight balls?
The implications for these kids is long-lasting. When you are convicted of a drug offense while you are receiving federal financial aid, you lose your aid is blocked. Most of the students who will get heavy-handed convictions won't be the head of the ring and won't be wealthy. They will be the lower-middle income students who depend on aid to afford school.
I was a little surprised by the SDSU bust since college cokeheads and dealers tend to be based in wealthy private schools where the kids have more pocket change to burn. One funny thing about San Diego is that it's a refuge that so many NorCal kids escape to while the SF bay area is where the SD kids flee to.
@mbprice: I went to McClintock (McClint-pot?) nd all I got was this lousy dime bag.
@redheadedstepchild: Intelligence != common sense.
I graduated from SDSU, and the SD news station I work for is all over this today. My heart is swelling with an overwhelming sense of pride at the moment.
@Begorrah: Yeah, what is with the TJ thing? It's creepy to fuck 13 year olds, whichever side of the border they are on.
Guys I know will brag about things they do in TJ that they would consider grounds for lynching here.
Must just be a "they are brown people" thing.
@Gumbina80: :-) Gotcha.
@Xavoc: This is true, but some things seem so basic...
@mbprice: Welcome Back!! We missed you so! In all seriousness, I got kinda excited when I saw your avatar pop up. Like, more so than I should have. :)
@redheadedstepchild: And 50% of the population is of below average intelligence.
@JaneChampagne: These students probably should have thought of those implications before they started dealing hard drugs, which may have very well been the reason for the deaths occurring in their frat houses.
@pssshwhatever:
I was thinking the same thing. I was like...shit someone got that crazy at another school? Oh UGA, how I love thee.
@MyFirstAndLastName: Oh hey, cool :)
You know, a couple of my friends got busted for personal use level possession on campus, and that was a nightmare for even the minor charges.
5 or 6 cops and a dog to sweep a 10x10 room? And did they need to do it at 2 am during midterms?
@SouthernSatine: Aw, thanks! Yeah it'll be nice talking to you folks again... just gotta manage my time a little better than before!