Deputies seize $1,000,000 worth of 'meth-pops'

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - The Harris County Sheriff's Office says a foiled burglary resulted in a seizure of an estimated 600 pounds of meth pops this morning. HCSO estimates the pops to carry a street value of $1,000,000.

"None of the investigators with me had seen it done like this before," said HSCO Lieutenant Ruben Diaz at a press conference Tuesday. "Bags and bags of what appear to be candy lollipops, but they all have meth inside them."

The bust happened on Wallingham Drive in Spring. Pictures from HSCO of inside the gray house show candy pops and chocolate molds in the shapes of flowers, bows, bats, and even Star Wars characters.

HSCO says a neighbor had called law enforcement after seeing two individuals seemingly trying to rob the home. Lt. Diaz says they now believe suspects Evonne Mick and David Salinas, who are now in custody, knew what had been in the house, and that Mick had previously stayed at the home-turned-drug-den.

"They'd put so many narcotics inside the vehicle they were trying to flee in, they couldn't even close the back hatch," described Lt. Diaz.

"I knew something was up with the house," said neighbor Mason Harper. "We've lived here a couple years and there was always something going on at the house every night, any hour."

Investigators are looking for others that may be involved in the operation. They're concerned the products are already on the streets of Houston.

"It appeared, to us, designed to target children," said Lt. Diaz. "If they were not sold directly to a child -- if the lollypops were dropped anywhere in the neighborhood -- a child picking them up would think it's regular candy."

The bust comes in the heels of the announcement that UTHealth is launching a major clinical study on a treatment for methamphetamine addiction, for which they are seeking actual meth users to participate. You can read more about that effort here.