Store clerk, manager arrested for selling 'gas station heroin,' Peachtree City police say

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. - A Peachtree City store clerk and a manager are under arrest after selling a drug that was supposed to be taken off the shelves last summer.

Tianeptine, sometimes known as "gas station heroin," has caused growing concern in Georgia. The Georgia Legislature passed a law that took effect in July making it a Schedule I controlled substance and any product with Tianeptine was supposed to be removed from store shelves.

Peachtree City police say officers came across a store that took it off the shelves, but was still selling it under the counter.

Police raided the Village Store on Highway 54 after an undercover drug buy of a product investigators say contains Tianeptine. Police say the store clerk, Corey Payne, sold the illegal narcotic in what was basically an under the counter deal.

Police say the product the store sold is called ZaZa Red.

ZaZa Red (Peachtree City Police Department)

Also under arrest, Village Store manager Feroz Jiwani. Police charged him and Payne with felony distribution and sale of a controlled substance as well as use of a wireless device to facilitate drug sales.

Peachtree City Police say some users of the drug were so addicted they spent thousands of dollars for a single weekend binge.

Police say it is a warning to retailers who pulled the product off the shelf but continue to sell it.