Wisconsin Police Warn That Local Meth May Contain ‘Corona Virus’—Offer to Test It for Free

(TMU) — A local Midwestern law enforcement agency is hoping to take advantage of the hysteria surrounding the novel coronavirus outbreak to net a few gullible criminals.

The Merrill Police Department in Wisconsin made a strange announcement Wednesday appealing to local residents possessing methamphetamines to come down to the police station where they could subject it to free tests to make sure that it’s not contaminated with “the Corona Virus [sic].”

According to the clever cops, locally-purchased meth could be contaminated with the virus, the department explained in a Facebook post.

The department then explained that anyone can come into a local station to test it—“no appointment necessary.”

The agency asked its Facebook followers to spread the word, adding:

“If we can help only one person, it’s worth it!”

The post has since gone viral, gaining over 5,500 shares as of Thursday afternoon.

While the idea that any drug users would come to the police station to “test” their illicit substances may sound far-fetched, the Merrill Police Department noted in a later update that the naiveté of many law-breakers has reached stupefying levels in the past.

The agency explained:

“Just to give you some history, we have actually experienced people report their illegal drugs being stolen, being ripped off in a drug deal, being sold a look-a-like illegal substance, etc. We have even experienced drunk drivers coming to pick up arrested drunk drivers as their ‘sober responsible party.’

So this attempt, although a long shot, still had some possibility behind it. We will take those easy grabs at removing poison from our community whenever we can.”

In 2016, a woman in Toulouse, France, walked into her local police station with two bags of cocaine and one bag of crack cocaine to ask officers to test the quality of the drugs because “she didn’t want people to die of an overdose.” The woman, who had a history of drug offenses, was quickly placed under arrest.

By Elias Marat | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com