Twilight Boutique Owners Charged with Felony Drug Trafficking

The owners of  on Prospect Road have been charged with aggravated trafficking in drugs after tests on K2-type products they were selling showed they contain illegal chemicals.

The 586 packs of "herbal incense" -- sold under names like K2 and Spice -- were confiscated in a police raid March 2.

Linndale Sgt. Tim Franczak, whose department spearheaded the raid, said store owners Sean and Sherry Lightner each posted $50,000 cash bonds Tuesday and were released from custody.

They are each charged with a first-degree felony for selling products that contain an analog of the .

The products are marketed as herbal incense, but kids and young adults roll the vegetable matter -- which is treated with chemicals -- into cigarettes and smoke them for what they call "a legal high."

K2 and other synthetic marijuana disappeared from the shelves briefly after the ban, but were replaced by similar products containing slightly different chemicals.

Franczak said lab tests showed the products Twilight Boutique were selling contained an "analog chemical" that was substantially similar to the banned ones.

"That's why we have the federal analog law," he said. "We're trying to get ahead of the chemical curve."

According to Franczak, an undercover officer from Linndale purchased an herbal incense product at Twilight earlier this year that was found to contain an illegal chemical.

Linndale then got a search warrant, which it executed March 2, confiscating not only the incense packets but hundreds of pipes and other smoking implements.

Company representatives have steadfastly denied the charges, saying the products being sold at Twilight Boutique were legal.

The DEA banned the chemicals after growing evidence the they were unsafe and have led to thousands of emergency room visits.

In February, two teens at  mall called for an ambulance .