‘Smurfing’ Attempts Shut Down Here
8.13.15 – Natasja Kemp, The Cleveland American
Tuesday, August 4 was a busy day for the Cleveland Police Department. As a result of a “smurfing” investigation at the Cleveland Walmart two individuals were arrested for “smurfing” of pseudoephedrine and endeavoring to manufacture methamphetamine. Another individual was arrested the same day downtown at Palace Drug for attempting to obtain a controlled dangerous substance prescription with a fake and forged prescription.
Since laws were passed in 2005 to prohibit people from buying large quantities of pseudoephedrine at one time, Cleveland Police Chief Clint Stout said meth manufacturers have found ways around this by “smurfing” from one store to another buying just under the two package legal limit at each store until they have enough pseudoephedrine to make meth.
However, with the NPLEX system that law enforcement has at its disposal, this type of buying activity does not go unnoticed. NPLEX stands for National Precursor Log Exchange and is a monitoring system “in real time,” meaning that the moment you purchase pseudoephedrine your ID information is uploaded into the NPLEX system. There is a daily, monthly and yearly limit to what people can legally buy and the NPLEX system automatically keeps track. It will also “block” a person who has reached the limit from buying more. A “blocked” person attempting to purchase more pseudoephedrine can be arrested and charged with a misdemeanor and serve up to 1 year in a county jail.
Read more here.