An Uber driver in Florida faces felony drug charges after he allegedly tried to sell psilocybin mushrooms and LSD to his passengers. A series of transactions climbed up to 200 hits of LSD on gel tabs and a quarter-pound of shrooms in one transaction.
If you’re going to offer shrooms and LSD to Uber passengers, you’d better make sure your passengers aren’t narcotics cops—this Uber driver learned that the hard way.
Some of his “passengers” ended up being narcotics investigators visiting Miramar Beach, Florida for the Florida Narcotics Officers’ Association Annual Conference last August in 2023, according to authorities. How’s that for bad luck? According to the Walton County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO), the investigators who rode the Uber are from the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO).
John Alcott, 52, of Crestview, Florida, arrived to pick up his riders, and when the CCSO investigators entered the vehicle, they said it reeked of pot smoke. Alcott whipped open his glove box to show them all the shrooms he had in his inventory. (Uber drivers are not employees of Uber; they are independent contractors as Uber’s key to success.)
The off-duty investigators decided to play along, posing as psychedelic customers.
WCSO reports that Alcott sold the CCSO investigators 134 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, 10 psilocybin mushroom microdose capsules, and 12 doses of LSD on blue gel tabs for $1,000. During the purchase, Alcott told detectives he would be willing to run a mail-order supply as well. WCSO also posted Alcott’s mugshot and several photos of the LSD and psilocybin mushrooms.
They’ve been processing the investigation ever since, and upped the ante with larger quantities to pin down the Uber driver for bigger charges. The sting operation eventually involved WCSO Narcotics Investigators, the Crestview Police Department, and the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Officers, who set up surveillance on Alcott’s residence in Crestview, Florida.
On Feb. 21, WCSO narcotics investigators sent the undercover CCSO detective, who was a passenger-turned-drug buyer, to reach out to Alcott to tell him they were in the area and wanted to buy over a quarter-pound of shrooms and 200 doses of blue gel tab LSD hits in exchange for $5,000.
“While these types of cases aren’t the primary focus of our VICE/Narcotics investigations, this one kind of came to us,” said Sheriff Michael Adkinson. “He obviously makes it a habit to sell while driving an Uber and that’s pretty alarming considering how teenagers and young adults frequently use driving services in the area.”
The investigators are taking it seriously and Alcott faces numerous felony charges. Alcott was arrested and booked into the Walton County Jail on two counts of selling a hallucinogen, trafficking in LSD, possession of a hallucinogen with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia, and two counts of using a two-way communication device in the commission of a felony. He was issued a $15,000 bond, posted it, and walked free the following day.
Uber and DoorDash Drivers Caught With Weed
One DoorDash customer received more than he bargained for when he placed an order of food—finding an unwanted bag of weed in his order, and decided to complain about it. The actions of the driver led to his termination as a Dasher with the company.
A Columbus, Ohio man, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he ordered food through DoorDash on Aug. 9, 2023, and complained that the bag of weed made him feel “scared.”
“I was scared at first but then again, I wasn’t very surprised,” the man who ordered food from DoorDash told ABC 6.
He provided a photo of his bag of food where he found a fork and a bag filled with cannabis. The photo shows a baggie adorned with alien heads holding what appears to be about a gram of weed. “Did this start with the driver?” he said. “Or did this start in the restaurant that I ordered this from?”
Others choose not to snitch on their DoorDash or Uber drivers. In 2016, comedian and talk show host Arsenio Hall was in Washington, D.C. to host the 2016 BET Honors, but soon after the star arrived into town, the show was canceled due to a blizzard. While in Washington D.C., Hall tweeted about the “overpowering” smell of cannabis in his Uber car. It didn’t bother him as much as other riders, however.
Hall was in Washington, D.C. to host the 2016 BET Honors, but soon after the star arrived into town, the show was canceled due to Saturday’s blizzard. While in our nation’s pot-legal capital, Hall tweeted about the “overpowering” smell of cannabis in his Uber car.
His tweet was immediately responded to by Uber’s customer support account, calling the situation “completely unacceptable” and asking Hall to snitch on his driver. But Hall refused to narc, tweeting back at Uber that it was “all good y’all.”
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