Pubdate: Thu, 03 Oct 2002 Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA) Copyright: 2002 San Francisco Examiner Contact: http://www.examiner.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/389 Author: Richard Byrne Reilly PARAPHERNALIA PATROL Undercover cops seized thousands of illegal crack pipes and an array of other drug paraphernalia in a series of raids of Market Street souvenir shops on Wednesday. Also confiscated were scales for weighing cocaine and fake 24-ounce Pepsi bottles that break in two to reveal a secret stash inside -- a popular item among street dealers. One shop hid the illegal goods in hollowed-out books that lined the shelf behind the counter. The owners of two stores, a souvenir shop and a shop that sells pagers and telephone cards, were cited for selling illegal drug paraphernalia and received summons to appear in court to answer the charges. They were not taken into custody. An employee at one store that tried to sell a crack pipe to an undercover cop posing as a buyer also was cited. The man accused the cops of harassment and shot them a scowl as they carried box after box of confiscated items to a marked patrol car. "It is wrong that they do this," the man said, holding the citation in his hand. The raids are part of the Police Department's continuing efforts to take back the rundown stretch of Market between the Powell Street BART station and 8th Street from the drug dealers and junkies who call it home. An officer involved in the raid, Lewis Wong, said it's illegal to buy or sell paraphernalia related to felony drugs like heroin or crack. Cops didn't touch the hundreds of bongs and pipes used to smoke marijuana, since they could be used to smoke tobacco. "There's no good reason you'd be buying one of these pipes except to smoke crack or meth," Wong said. Workers at one of the raided shops, City Souvenir, watched anxiously as cops carted off the confiscated items and said they will fight to have the merchandise returned. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens