Feds seize FW's Ridglea Theater in drug bust

[Bob Of Burleson]

Ridglea Theater seized in federal ‘K2’ crackdown

By Barry Shlachter
barry@star-telegram.com

The Ridglea Theater, the Camp Bowie Boulevard landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is one of a slew of North Texas properties seized in a federal crackdown on a Dallas-based synthetic marijuana operation taken over by the Gas Pipe head shop chain.

Also seized were $2.8 million in cash and investment funds.

The Gas Pipe chain is owned by Jerry Shults, who also owns the Ridglea Theater. Neither he nor Amy Herrig, his daughter and business associate, has been charged with a crime or arrested.

In a complaint filed in federal court Wednesday, prosecutors say employees of Shults’ Gas Pipe on Maple Avenue in Dallas began manufacturing substances known as K2 and Spice in a room there by early 2014 after people working for the original maker, Lawrence Shahwan of Lewisville, were arrested on unrelated charges.

The case was first reported by WFAA/Channel 8.

Shahwan was detained May 4 on charges of conspiring to distribute a banned substance, according to a complaint filed in federal court in Dallas on Thursday. His attorney, Don Mulder, did not return a call seeking comment. An indictment is expected within 30 days, a court document said.

The complaint said a number of residential and commercial properties were seized because prosecutors allege that they were either bought with drug money or used to sell synthetic marijuana under such brand names as Venom, Alien Loose Leaf, WTF, Wolf Pack Rage and Assassin Revenge.

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