Dennis RomeroUber rides can serve as a makeshift party buses. They can prevent DUIs. And they can even make a walk of shame much shorter and less shameful.
But Ventura County Sheriff's Department officials say a pair of young Southern California men tried to find a new use for the ride-share service this week when they allegedly transported a quarter pound of concentrated cannabis in the back of an Uber vehicle.
Unfortunately for this duo, deputies on patrol in Thousand Oaks stopped the car for an unspecified “vehicle code violation” and soon discovered the honey oil.
According to a sheriff's statement:
The rear seat passengers were contacted and found to be in possession of approximately one quarter pound of concentrated cannabis known as “butane honey oil” and $2000. The investigation revealed the two subjects were using Uber to drive them to a drug deal where they could sell their concentrated cannabis.
It happened Wednesday at 11:58 a.m. on Westlake Boulevard south of Avenida De Los Arboles in Thousand Oaks, authorities said.
The suspects, identified as 24-year-old Cody Jens of Agoura Hills and 22-year-old Luke Karasiuk of Thousand Oaks, were arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs for sale, deputies said.
The Uber driver was not implicated in the alleged drug crime.
The concentrated marijuana the accused allegedly had was good for more than 1,000, high-potency doses, sheriff's officials stated:
These individuals had well over a thousand dosage units of the product. Honey oil is extremely dangerous in that it can cause adverse events in users such as severe hallucinations and panic attacks. Honey oil is very hazardous to make since it involves a chemical reaction utilizing large amounts of butane. Frequently, labs blow up killing or maiming individuals attempting to make the product.
Credit: File photo by Timothy Norris for L.A. Weekly
Concentrates such as honey oil, wax, shatter, dabs, et. al., are protected as medicine for legit patients under California's medical marijuana law.
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