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NH police arrest 'spice' dealer after lengthy investigation

PELHAM, NH (MyFoxBoston.com) --  Pelham and N.H. state police ended a six month long investigation into the sale of spice with an arrest Friday.

The investigation began when a 17-year-old was hospitalized after ingesting spice from Ace Discount Cigarettes in Pelham. Police tested the packets of spice, which were marketed as incense but sprayed with spice and a chemical similar to THC.  Hallucinations, black outs and cardiovascular distress are all side effects.

Sergeant Anne Perrilello says the owner of the store was given several warnings to stop selling the product.

"He was even made aware we were doing an investigation, that we have sent some up to the N.H. state lab, it's returned with that illegal substance in it," she said.

The owner ignored the warnings and continued to make sales. He also increased the price from $15 to $20 per pack and started keeping it behind the counter, Perrilello said.

During the investigation, police made several controlled buys of spice directly from the suspect. Several different brands of spice or synthetic marijuana were purchased and sent to the NH State Crime Lab for analysis. Police were then able to obtain search warrants for two locations, one was Ace Discount Cigarettes, and recovered about $7,000 cash and over 100 bags of synthetic marijuana. The cashier at Ace Discount told police he knew about the state of emergency announced by the governor Friday due to the spike in spice overdoses, but he continued to sell the product anyway.

As a result of the search warrants, Christopher Matte, 43, of Hudson, N.H., both the owner and an employee of Ace Discount Cigarettes, was arrested and charged with two counts of felony sale of drugs. The case was expedited after the state of emergency was declared.

Matte was released on $10,000.00 personal recognizance bail and is due in court on Sept. 22. Police say additional arrests may follow this one, as other employees were allegedly involved in the synthetic marijuana sales.

A clerk at Ace Discount Cigarettes told FOX 25 Saturday that they're out of spice business.

The Granite State doesn't have an outright ban on all synthetic marijuana, especially as distributors change their formulas. Just like in Pelham, police departments have to go into stores as part of an investigation and test spice packets individually for banned substances before filing charges.