Raiders nab Spice stash worth millions

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Federal agents raided a number of locations around Albuquerque Thursday morning reportedly targeting a large Spice distribution ring that stretches all the way to New York.

Two dozen federal agents swarmed a northeast Albuquerque shop hauling out millions of dollars of the synthetic marijuana, according to sources familiar with the case.

One business owner in the industrial park near Jefferson and McLeod said he was surprised when agents showed up to search the property next to his.

"They just asked me to stay inside the building while they did their investigation," the man said.

The sign above the shop agents raided said it sold flowers, but that was left over from the previous tenant.

A man with a neighboring business said new people moved in a few weeks ago.

"They said they were making energy pills," he said.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided the building and several homes around Albuquerque Thursday. 

A home near Interstate 40 and Carlisle Boulevard was one of them. Neighbors said agents broke in the windows of the home during the early morning raid.

Sources said this “Spice” ring stretches from Utah, to Albuquerque and all the way to Buffalo, N.Y., where the drug was sold in delis.

The Spice was packaged under names like "Scooby Snax," "Cush," and "Mr. Happy" and was flown across the country, according to DEA agents in Buffalo.

There have been several arrests in Buffalo and some in Albuquerque.

There is no word yet on the identities of the people arrested here, where they were arrested or the charges they face.

The DEA used its administrative powers to make five of the chemicals that make up Spice illegal in 2010.

Then New Mexico did the same with a tougher law passed last year banning 20 more chemicals that make up the product.