NH business shut down for selling bath salts

PLAISTOW, N.H. (WHDH) -- A New Hampshire business has been shut down after illegally selling bath salts -- a synthetic drug used to get high.

Police told 7News the drugs were in plain view at the New Hampshire store. They were disguised as face treatment and ladybug attractant, but they were actually the latest designer drugs to hit the streets.

They’re known as bath salts, and they come in all kinds of colorful and attractive packaging. Investigators say they were being sold at Foods Plus Discount in Plaistow, N.H.

“They’d walk right up to the front counter and they would ask for a specific brand they wanted and they would sell it to them right over the counter,” said Detective Patrick Schiavone, Plaistow, N.H. Police Department.

Undercover officers zoned in on the convenience store Friday afternoon after months of investigation.

“There has been a lot of undercover work going down. They have made undercover buys into this establishment,” said Detective Schiavone.

A search warrant was executed, and more than $100,000 in drugs -- primarily bath salts -- was confiscated.

The drug can be injected, snorted, smoked -- some even drink it. According to authorities, the side effects are deadly. It can cause psychosis and paranoia.

Recently in Miami, a man brutally attacked and chewed the face of another man. Experts say the wild and violent behavior was a result of bath salts.

A half of a gram of bath salts costs between $40 and $100.

“This is the new thing coming out on the street and it is definitely going to be one of the most dangerous," ”aid Detective Schiavone.

Charges against the store’s owners are pending.