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The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office has arrested Tipu H. Ali, 27, of 1050 Capri Isles Blvd., Apartment P303, Venice, on charges of Sale of a Controlled Substance, Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance (Synthetic Cannabinoids) and Violation of a County Ordinance, the office has announced. On May 28, detectives with the Special Investigations Section executed a search war- rant at Beneva Tobacco & Beer, located at 1295 Beneva Road in Sarasota, and arrested Ali for allegedly selling "OMG," a synthetic cannabi- noid, to an undercover detective on May 16, the report says. "This sale was made after Ali had signed an official notice advising him that it was illegal to sell these substances," a news release notes. Detectives executing the search warrant discovered additional suspect synthetic can- nabinoid in a box in the rear storage room and in an open safe under the cash register, the release continues. Detectives also seized more than $18,000 in U.S. currency from the business and from Ali, the release adds. The investigation is ongoing. This is the second arrest for the sale of syn- thetic drugs at a local business in just over a month, the release points out. "We are committed to the ongoing eradica- tion of these harmful substances from our community" said Sheriff Tom Knight in the release. % STORE CLERK ARRESTED FOR ALLEGED SALE OF SYNTHETIC DRUGS Tipu Ali/Contributed photo Simply put, Crime Stoppers relies upon the cooperation between the police the media and the community to provide a flow of information about crime and criminals. Call: (941) 366-TIPS (8477) Click: SarasotaCrimeStoppers.com Text: Text "TIP109" plus your message to CRIMES (274637) All submitted tips are secure and anonymous Sarasota News Leader June 6, 2014 Page 86