Minneapolis, June 28, 2005
Lalit K Jha
HindustanTimes
Stung by the "Operation Meth Merchant" in
which as many as 43 Indian-Americans were arrested
in Georgia for allegedly selling ingredients used
in manufacture of methamphetamine, a highly addictive
stimulant, the Gujaratis dominated convenience store
owners of the US have formed a joint platform to 'initiate
measure' to ensure that such a humiliating episode
is not repeated.
The first national convention of the recently formed
Asian American Convenience Stores Association (AACSA)
would be held on July 9 at Tempa in Florida, announced
its president Satya Shaw, in an exclusive interview
to The HindustanTimes.com.
"One of the major objectives of the convention
is to initiate a awareness campaign among convenience
store owners is how to avoid sale of "illegal
products" and also various legal aspects in the
aftermath after Operation Meth," Shaw said.
As per an estimate of the about 130,000 convenience
stores in the United States, nearly 80,000 are Asian-Americans
which include more than 65,000 Gujaratis. Both Georgia
and Florida has a massive concentration of Gujaratis
as owners of convenience stores.
While the association was in the making for quite
some time now, it only became active after the arrest
of 43 Indian-Americans early this month for allegedly
selling meth.
"Out of 43, as many as 38 were Patels. Though,
the law is taking its own course and the guilty should
be punished but we feel most of them were not aware
of the implication of selling such a product,"
said the association chairman, Chandra Patel.
"Thus the need to launch such a mass awareness
campaign among the convenience stores owners was more
so because many of them knew mostly Hindi and Gujarati.
If they were not aware, they might be even trapped,"
Patel said.
The association has even hired few reputed attorney
to help out the arrested convenience store owners
fight their legal battle. Many of them were released
on bonds ranging from $10,000 to $ 50,000 (about Rs.
4.5 lakhs to about Rs. 22.5 lakhs).
Such has been the overwhelming response from the
Asian convenience store owners that within a short
period about 10,000 have already become member of
the association, Patel claimed. "At this speed,
we believe that soon we would become one of the largest
Indian organizations in the United States," he
observed.
At the day-long convention, Patel said, a special
session has been devoted on this issue: "Views
on Atlanta Case and how to avoid legal problems".
Majority of the arrests made by the federal agencies
early this month were in Atlanta area of the Georgia
province.
The Attorney General of Florida, Charlie Christ,
too has been roped. "He has agreed to deliver
the key note address," he said.
Among other topics taken up for discussion are how
to motivate employees for loyalty and honesty, how
to avoid pitfalls in buying a store, how to save on
financing, marketing, insurance, accounting and legal
and how to increase safety and security of convenience
stores, Patel said.
Following an 18-month investigation, the federal
authorities early this month arrested as many as 49
convenience store owners and store clerks. While,
many people alleged that it appeared to be an ethno-centric
operation, Government officials strongly refuted it.
The incident however highly demoralized and shocked
the community.
WASHINGTON, June 10 2005
PTI
In a major operation, about 45 NRIs, (non-redident
Indian) convenience store owners have been arrested
for allegedly selling ingredients used in the manufacture
of methamphetamine, a highly addictive stimulant,
in United States' Georgia province.
As part of a crackdown codenamed "Operation
Meth Merchant", Federal officials raided several
stores in the district over the past month and arrested
45 store owners and workers for selling substances
used in manufacture of the deadly methamphetamine.
"The defendants have been charged with selling
ephedrine and/or pseudoephedrine and/or other products
and materials, knowing or having reason to know that
the buyer's intended purpose for the product was to
manufacture methamphetamine, " the Attorney's
office in northern district of Georgia said in a statement.
"Meth is an extremely addictive and dangerous
drug that is poisoning our communities and impacting
all our lives...Unfortunately some businesses seek
big profits in knowingly selling products to make
meth business and their owners and employees need
to understand that they are feeding the meth epidemic,"
US Attorney David Nahmias said.
He warned that all those who indulge in the sale
of the chemical would face federal prosecution.
Several of those arrested, a majority of them NRI
Gujratis from Gujarat, have already been released
on bonds ranging from USD 10,000 to USD 50,000
