Store clerks charged with selling synthetic marijuana in Chicago appear in court

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Two of the three men arrested in a crackdown on deadly synthetic marijuana appeared in court on Tuesday.

The three men are accused of selling the deadly, dangerous synthetic marijuana at a mini mart in North Lawndale.

The men, 48-year-old Fouad Masoud, 44-year-old Jamil Jad Allah and 44-year-old Adil Mohammed, were arrested on Sunday and charged with federal drug offenses for conspiring to sell synthetic marijuana, known as K2, at King Mini Mart in the 1300-block of South Kedzie Avenue. Investigators said the men sold 50 to 60 packages of the drugs per day from the store.

The synthetic drug is so lethal, it has caused uncontrollable bleeding. There have been 56 cases in the state, including 17 in Chicago and five in Cook County. There have been 10 additional cases in the collar counties and more than two dozen in downstate Illinois.

It can be deadly, and state investigators said two people have died ingesting K2, and nine people had taken drugs made with rat poison.

"But the bottom line is, we know they're out there and available and right now, we're seeing unexpected life-threatening effects from people using them, people coming in with unexplained bleeding," said Chicago Department of Public Health official Alison Arwady.

One of the men accused made an initial court appearance and remains in federal custody until a hearing on Thursday.