Man Arrested Twice Within Days for K-2 Offenses

          SEPTEMBER 5, 2012.

PRESS RELEASE      

Weatherford-Parker County Special Crimes Unit members arrested Francisco Don Uduwarage, 40, of Weatherford, for the second time within a week.

Uduwarage was originally arrested Friday, Aug. 31, 2012, and charged with manufacturing delivery of a controlled substance after SCU investigators discovered he was trafficking a large amount of K-2 (synthetic cannabinoids) from his store, Tobacco & More located on Ranger Highway.

Uduwarage’s clerk, Sanka Dilhara Welihinda, 27, was also arrested Friday. Immigration and Naturalization Services has since placed a hold on Welihinda, who is not a U/S. citizen, rather, both men stated they are citizens of Sri Lanka.

Uduwarage posted a $75,000 bond Tuesday afternoon. He returned to the Parker County Jail in about five hours for a second charge of manufacturing delivery of a controlled substance.

The Special Crimes Unit continued the investigation on the suspects and the store, which led them to a warehouse on South Bowie Street, Tuesday.

Uduwarage denied using the storage facility and later implicated himself to investigators, saying he had rented the warehouse and the contents inside the building belonged to him.

SCU investigators discovered and seized more than 36 pounds of K-2, packaged to sell, totaling 13,494 grams. Typical K-2 is sold for $30 per each 3-gram package. Tuesday’s seizure netted a street value of $134,940, in K-2 product. SCU investigators also seized a total of $118,340 in U.S. Currency, stemming from both cases against Uduwarage.

ParkerCounty Sheriff Larry Fowler said both seizures this week came as no surprise.

“We’ve had numerous businesses under investigation over the last year,” Fowler said. “Our SCU investigators have spent numerous man hours in the investigations, tracking the sales of K-2 and enforcing the no-tolerance laws set in place for our community.”

Weatherford Police Chief Mike Manning said “It is our hope that the recent activity of the Special Crimes Unit would send a clear message to those individuals trafficking this type of product in our area. We will use every available legal means to ensure the safety of the public. These types of investigations have been ongoing since the state law went into effect and we will continue our investigations until we reach the goal of zero synthetic cannabinoid sales in Weatherford and ParkerCounty.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, Uduwarage remained incarcerated. His bond had not been set.