Six store clerks pleaded guilty Tuesday in state district court to misdemeanor sale of a product used to falsify a drug screen. One clerk didn’t attend.

The clerks were issued misdemeanor summonses in May after members of the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office conducted an undercover operation into the sale of synthetic urine and detoxification liquids at convenience stores.

The purchases at the convenience stores were made as part of a larger investigation into smoke shops in Lake Charles and Moss Bluff. The undercover agents who purchased the masking agents “made it clear” they wanted to pass drug tests, prosecutor Brett Gaspard said.

Judge Mike Canaday ordered the clerks to pay a $250 fine, plus court costs, and serve six months’ probation.

The convenience stores were More Four Less No. 2, 1310 N. Martin Luther King Highway; Food Post, 425 N. Martin Luther King Highway; Tobacco Place, 2027 N. Martin Luther King Highway; Super Food Mart, 1539 N. Martin Luther King Highway; Smokers Paradise and Spirits No. 1, 1014 Martin Luther King Highway; Smokers Express, 3501 Gerstner Memorial Drive; and Raceway No. 6946, 1213 N. Martin Luther King Highway.

Most of the owners said they did not know that selling the products was illegal.

Gaspard said that with the exposure the case has received, ignorance of the law can no longer be claimed.

“I don’t think we’re going to run into that problem again,” Gaspard said.

“I think this is going to solve that. I think this has put everyone on notice,” he said.(MGNonline)