06/09/2026
SEARCH WARRANTS NET SUSPICIOUS SUBSTANCES
Three local businesses were temporarily closed Tuesday while law enforcement officers executed search warrants related to undercover buys of controlled substances at the convenience stores.
Andalusia Police Chief Paul Hudson said his department’s interest in the case began earlier this year when he received a complaint about local convenience stores selling products containing a highly-addictive ingredient commonly known as “kratom,” and often called “convenience store heroin.”
The APD organized a meeting of area law enforcement officers and the district attorney, which resulted in District Attorney Walt Merrell writing a letter to convenience store owners letting them know that the substances were illegal, and formally demanding that they cease and desist from “possessing, selling ,providing for sale, or otherwise allowing these products to be found at this location.” The letter also stated that state laws would be enforced and the substance would not be allowed in local communities.
Capt. Brett Holmes said APD officers personally delivered copies of the letter to each local convenience store and had owners and managers sign a copy in acknowledgement they had received the letter. The Opp Police Department also had officers deliver letters to businesses there, he said.
About a month later, he said, the APD sent an undercover officer to every local convenience store attempting to buy the products. The products they purchased were sent to the lab for testing. Products from the three stores searched on Tuesday tested positive for controlled substance, Holmes said.
An undercover officer made additional buys late last week, he said.
“Based on that, with the help of the State Bureau of Investigation and in coordination with the DA’s office, we were able to get search warrants for three stores.”
The search warrants were executed at Froggy’s Corner Store/Thirsty Turtle, 421 South Three Notch St.; the Shell station at the corner of Hwy. 55 and the Southern Bypass; and the Outlander convenience store, 1108 Sanford Road.
In each case, he said, the stores were shut down for a couple of hours while officers conducted searches. During the searches, large quantities of merchandise were seized, and are being sent to the state lab for testing.
“This is very much an ongoing investigation,” Hudson said. “We did not make any arrests today, but that doesn’t mean we won’t.”
He said businesses who do not abide by the law could be criminally charged and could potentially lose their business licenses.
“That’s not a threat, that’s a promise,” he said.
Hudson said that even though the products appear to be sold legally, consumers can still be charged with possession of a controlled substance or possession of a suspected controlled substance if found with the products in their possession.
Mayor Earl Johnson thanked the police department for their efforts in this investigation.
“We absolutely are not going to tolerate illegal substances being sold in local stores,” Johnson said. “The department has my full support in this ongoing investigation.”
