Five different students at Columbia University were charged with dealing drugs in order to pay for their tuition.
Over the course of the investigation, police discovered that the students had been selling candy laced with LSD to pay for their tuition which costs $55,000 per year for each student. The Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said that it was not the right way to earn tuition money nor the right legal way, so they were forced to arrest the students.
Among the students that were arrested on drug charges were Jose Stephen Perez and Christopher Coles. The operation to take down the drug-dealing students occurred on West 114th Street where police knew the students would be dealing.
Police stated that apparently the students had dealt drugs very openly and without any real kind of discretion. Officials also said that there were a wide range of drugs being sold.
The operation relied on a young undercover police officer who posed as someone participating in a drug deal as the “middle man” from another school in the area.
The operation was a success and all five students from Columbia University were charged and are expected to do at least some time in jail. The students are currently awaiting a hearing to discuss how they will plead and what kind of sentence will be handed down to each of them.
Category: US
