Midtown club, Sound Factory, was raided and its owner arrested on drug charges yesterday morning. Authorities claim that the owner, Richard Grant, and employees helped distribute and did nothing to stop the sale and use of drugs, namely Ecstasy, at the club, being charged with the same kind of charge owners of crack houses are charged wtih (the "stash house" charge). Other allegations against the club include the club's policy of not calling 911 during the many drug overdoses there. An attorney for the club says it's not Grant's fault there are a lot of drugs in the club: "If the Pope ran the club you'd have the same problem. It's not because the pope is for drug dealing. It's because this (ecstasy) is the drug of choice in these clubs right now."
The Sound Factory, which had been closed because of drug-related charges previously, had been allowed to reopen due to new, tougher stances. A judge said a drug sniffing dog had to be at the entrance; Police Commissioner Kelly said the dog was sleeping whenever the police would make one of its many undercover buys there.
