San Diego: Dozens of San Diego State University students were arrested and six fraternities were suspended after a sweeping drug investigation found that some fraternity members openly dealt drugs and one even sent a mass text message advertising cocaine, authorities said.
A five-month investigation prompted by a cocaine overdose death last year led to the arrests of 96 people, 75 of them San Diego State students. A second drug death occurred while the investigation went on.
Twenty-nine people were arrested yesterday in raids at nine locations including the Theta Chi fraternity, where agents found cocaine, Ecstasy and three guns. Eighteen of them were wanted on warrants for selling to undercover agents.
Two kilograms of cocaine were seized in all, along with 350 Ecstasy pills, marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms, hash oil, methamphetamine, illicit prescription drugs, several guns and at least US $ 60,000 in cash, authorities said.
Profits may have been used to finance fraternity operations, they said.
Those arrested included a student who was about to receive a criminal justice degree and another who was to receive a master's degree in homeland security.
"A sad commentary is that when one of these individuals was arrested, they inquired as (to) whether or not his arrest and incarceration would have an effect on him becoming a federal law enforcement officer," said Ralph Partridge, special agent in charge of the US Drug Enforcement Administration in San Diego.
During the probe, investigators discovered that in some fraternities most members were aware of "organised drug dealing occurring from the fraternity houses by its members," the DEA said in a news release.
