On May 1st, 2018, exactly one month after heroin was reportedly found in two NES game cartridges allegedly purchased that way from a flea market, police raided a home in Newnan, GA, carrying out over 1,500 game cartridges, a 3D printer, industrial-sized ink cartridges, and two suspects in cuffs. The home on [street redacted] was long suspected of being a heroin den but suspicions were elevated leading up to the arrest after the pair turned in an estimated 4 ounces of synthetic heroin on April 1st of this year.
The suspects were charged with making false police reports, unlawful possession and trafficking of controlled substances, and running an unlicensed rabbit breeding operation. Police confirmed that the substance they received a month ago was actually heroin but uncovered more evidence that the narcotics were deliberately placed there by the two suspects “possibly as some ill-conceived April Fools joke,” according to the Newnan PD Press Relations officer, R.Paulson.
After the announcement we spoke with officer T.Durden to ask why the two would play with fire by involving the police at all. Durden theorized that “they were probably high on their own supply when they decided to do something that enormously stupid.”
Authorities first began to become suspicious when researching similar cases. Officer Krause remembered seeing ink cartridges, a gram scale, a 3D printer, game cartridges, and other paraphernalia when he first responded on Easter Sunday. 3D printed game and ink cartridges were found in a similar raid in Norway which was reported internationally mid-March. When presented the cause for a warrant, City of Newnan judge M.Singer was incredulous that anyone would incriminate themselves for an April Fools Day prank. “I was hesitant to sign the warrant until officers returned with a history of the their past interactions with the two.” Indeed, the pair have a long and bizarre history of interactions with NPD. In one example from over 20 years ago, the twins called the police to their mother’s house. They threatened to sue the department if they did not arrest the mother for theft and destruction of their property after she threw away the box to Super Mario 64 and refused to replace it.
This further confirms the link we in the media have long suspected between video games, seedy unground drug dens, and brain damage. This didn’t start in college or a biker bar: This came from the blacklit depths of ‘80s arcades.
-Hessel, Raymond K., Managing Editor reporting for The Newnan Times Herald