4 indicted in Riverside bath salts case

Four people in the investigation involving the distribution and sales of illegal bath salts and synthetic marijuana have been indicted on felony criminal charges.

Hossein Mirdamad, 51; Jasvir Kaur, 45; Ghaleb M. Salah, 42, and Lakhvir Bassi, 32, are now under indictment on charges that range from trafficking in drugs to fraud, according to Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr.'s office, which announced the indictments Thursday afternoon.

Arraignment is scheduled for May 1o.

Riverside police on April 17 raided the Short Stop on Linden Avenue, Valero on Valley Street and KD Smoke Shop in the 2000 block of Harshman Road and arrested three business owners on suspicion of sales of synthetic marijuana and bath salts, Heck's office said.

Mirdamad is the owner of the Short Stop, and Salah is the supplier of that business. Kaur has been identified as the owner of the KD Smoke Shop.

Samra Kulwinder, who owns the Valero, was not among those indicted Thursday. Bassi's involvement in the case was not detailed by Heck's office.

Mirdamad is charged with three counts of aggravated trafficking in drugs, five counts of aggravated possession of drugs, two counts of illegal use of supplemental nutrition or WIC program benefits and two counts of telecommunications fraud.

Kaur is charged on two counts of aggravated trafficking in drugs.

Salah is charged on five counts of aggravated possession of drugs and four counts of aggravated trafficking in drugs. One of the trafficking counts and one of the possession counts carry a mandatory 11-year prison sentence, according to Heck's office.

Bassi is charged on two counts of aggravated trafficking in drugs.

"These dangerous drugs destroy lives and cause deaths," Heck said in the news release in which he praised the efforts of Riverside police in the case.