[News Hawk]

Before you start wondering where you can get this expensive and potent pot, it turns out that the drug ring that offered it has been busted by the NYPD and feds. The Post reports that Purple Haze sold for $560 an ounce and got its name from buds with a purple stain; it also "contains highly elevated levels of THC." That must be some crazy toke. Orlando Torres, who operated the ring in upper Manhattan, was arrested.

In recent weeks, detectives with the Manhattan North Narcotics Major Case Unit and federal authorities in Miami have busted 29 people, including diamond-studded, bling-wearing Orlando Torres, the alleged New York-based ringleader.

Torres, 26, reputedly took over the Big Apple distribution operation after his alleged predecessor, Edward Meran, a father of seven, was gunned down in Washington Heights on Jan. 11, 2005. Meran was something of a John Gotti-like presence in his community, sponsoring the Dominican Power basketball team and founding the Dyckman Invitational Basketball League for local athletes, sources said.

Or is that John Pot-ti? At any rate, the Purple Haze operation, which had shipments of 1000 pounds of the pot to NYC a week, was serious stuff. When $90,000 was stolen, Torres hired a polygraph expert "to give his crew lie-detector tests to see if they betrayed him and were involved in the heist."

We suspect you can still get Purple Haze somewhere. At $560/oz., we're sure there are many people willing to sell it.


Newshawk: Spliff Twister - 420Girls
Source: GOTHAMist
Pubdate: December 18, 2006
Author: Jen Chung
Copyright: 2006 Gothamist
Contact: jen@gothamist.com
Website: http://www.gothamist.com