Newsweek
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Shawn Salmon, a 53-year-old woman in Sioux City, Iowa, has been charged with the unlawful possession of a controlled substance after she allegedly drove to the Sioux City Police Department on Sunday afternoon and asked police to examine a bag of methamphetamines for coronavirus.
On April 5 at 1:03 p.m., Salmon drove her 2016 grey Chevy Silverado truck to the police station and showed “signs of impairment” like erratic behavior, paranoia and profuse sweating. She then asked police to examine her drugs for COVID-19. She consented to a search of her body and vehicle, and police found a 14.4-gram bag of meth, a bag of cannabis and “a large amount of paraphernalia” for ingesting drugs.
The woman then consented to a drug test and was immediately taken into custody and jailed.
While the woman’s inquiry might seem odd, 20 police departments around the U.S. have posted on Facebook warning people, “If you have recently purchased Meth, it may be contaminated with the Corona Virus.”
The posts continue, “If you’re not comfortable going into an office setting, please request any officer and they’ll test your Meth in the privacy of your home. Please spread the word! We are here for you!”
While there’s no indication that the Sioux City Police Department ever posted such a message on social media, police departments have called the posts “satirical.”