The unfortunate reality of retail is that you’ll never be able to do enough. Gamestop’s are typically understaffed with employees that are overworked while tasked with a massive list of things to do. Beyond the day to day, there are curveballs. Sometimes there will be customers screaming in your face, other times you’ll be too busy to notice that a bag of meth is tucked away behind a used copy of Grand Theft Auto V. Unfortunately, the latter happened in Florida, where an 11-year-old found the drug as he was waiting for his game to load.
The kid’s mother, Kayla McAllister, quickly called the police and posted the following on Facebook (h/t Kotaku):
Today i took my son to gamestop in Tallahassee to trade in games and get some new ones. When he opened the booklet inside one of the pre owned games he ( MY ELEVEN YEAR OLD SON!!!!!!!) found this. A baggie of fucking meth! Clearly the game was not properly checked when it was traded in and because of the carelessness i could have lost a child. Thankfully He brought it right to us and said what is this?
Grand Theft Auto V is a violent game in which the protagonists are able to do drugs, kill people at random, and basically simulate a criminal’s life. It is meant for users 17+ and Gamestop typically checks IDs of the person purchasing, so the mother likely OK’d this particular transaction. Gamestop, who has been dealing with a large swathe of bad PR recently regarding their used games policies, made a statement:
“We are disappointed to hear about the experience one of our customers recently had when purchasing a pre-owned video game from one of our local Tallahassee, Florida stores. We work diligently to ensure the quality of our pre-owned items are like new. Unfortunately, in this circumstance our thorough process fell short. We are extremely concerned that this incident occurred, and are working with the local police department to support them in their investigation.”
Kotaku then did some investigating and was able to contact the Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office, who confirmed that the substance in the baggie was indeed 6 grams of meth.
According to the internet, 6 grams of Meth is worth 480 dollars. Odd the one time someone gets a deal at Gamestop, it's on drugs :P
— Spawn Wave (@SpawnWaveMedia) May 9, 2017
Whether this was an enterprising Walter White making a deal, or a forgetful Jesse Pinkman selling back some used games with his stash tucked away is beside the point — somehow, this baggie made its way into the hands of a child and that’s unacceptable. It may seem simple to just check every game that comes in, but perhaps it’s rushing Gamestop employees who are seeing less help on their shift that need the support of their company.
Hopefully, before Gamestop hands down a decree that all workers must check behind the game manuals for baggies of drugs, they should supply them with enough coverage to make that a possibility.
(Via Kotaku)