Paid informants told the convenience store clerks that they were planning to make methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug, as they bought camping fuel, antifreeze and pseudoephedrine-containing cold medicine.
Federal authorities say the workers knew what they were doing when the sold the materials. Some had even set up sections of their stores, authorities said, that brought together tin foil, cold medicines and other products used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.
But leaders of the convenience store association say cultural and language barriers played a role in many cases. Some workers didn't understand when the informants used terms such as "doing a cook" to describe the manufacture of methamphetamine, Patel said.
Patel made the point as he sat next to fellow association member Praful Patel at his gas station in Decatur. "When Praful hears you talk about 'cooking'," he said, "he's going to think you're talking about a barbecue."
Sometimes even when language isn't a problem, cultural differences are, said attorney Steve Sadow, who represents seven of the North Georgia defendants.
Questioning a customer's motivations is a foreign concept in India, he said. "That would be inappropriate or rude," he said. Sadow said he knows of one instance where a customer asked for $100 worth of cold medicine.
The clerk, seeing the customer was after a bulk purchase, said he could get a better price by buying $500 worth. "It's looked at as a simple business decision," Sadow said.
Patel said that doesn't relieve Indian-American convenience store owners of their responsibility to follow the law here, of course. And that's where the association can help, he said.
Some of the planned seminars will focus on recent changes in regulations, such as the anti-meth measure that went into effect in July.
It bars Georgia retailers from selling more than three packages of products containing pseudoephedrine in one sale and requires them to keep the medicine behind the counter.
The association also wants to meet with local police officials to identify stores that are often victims of hold-ups and other crimes.
Facebook
Twitter