Owner of 99 cents store charged with selling glass meth pipes

This 99 cents store on Freedom Boulevard was busted for allegedly selling meth pipes. (Photo by Tom Dunlap/Register-Pajaronian)

WATSONVILLE — Watsonville Police arrested the owner of a 99 cents store on Freedom Boulevard Wednesday and charged him with possession of drug paraphernalia for sale.

Kwang Shin Chun, 68, was allegedly selling little glass pipes used for smoking meth or heroine, Watsonville Police Chief Manny Solano said Thursday.

The glass pipes come in boxes that say "Happy Valentine Glass Rose," and Chun claimed they were little vases, Solano said. Police confiscated boxes containing 180 glass pipes from the store, which officers showed to the press Thursday morning at police headquarters. It appeared someone had individually wrapped each pipe in newspaper before selling them.

They sell for $6 for a larger pipe, $3 for a smaller version with no bowl on the end. Solano said other merchants in town sell them.

He said he was watching the store at 1459-2 Freedom Blvd. in the Alta Vista Shopping Center Wednesday at about 4 p.m. and saw many customers go into the store and leave quickly. At one point, he said he saw a known drug user go into the store and leave soon after with something in his hand.

Solano said he went into the store and asked Chun, "What did you just sell him?" Chun was arrested shortly after that.

The police chief said it is "very upsetting" to know that some Watsonville merchants are making a profit in this manner.















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