By LESLIE ANNE DOMINIQUE

Oh how the cookie crumbles…

A man who was praised for buying $540 in Girl Scout cookies last Friday, was arrested on Tuesday for federal drug charges.

Last Friday, Detric Lee McGowen was a hero all over the internet. His story of buying 120 boxes of Girl Scout cookies from freezing children at the supermarket went viral.  The story was picked up by local and national news, with pictures of him and the happy children presented all over.

Unrelated to his generosity, McGowen was arrested on Tuesday and charged by the DEA with conspiracy to import and distribute fentanyl, heroin and cocaine.

McGowen is one of the 11 men tied up in a case claiming that they conspired to import Mexican drugs into the U.S. More than $1 million were found among the defendants.

Various local news networks have caught up with the Girl Scouts from Greenville to speak on their experience with McGowen. In an interview with the Greenville News, Karen Kelly, the vice president of the Girl Scouts chapter stated, “Nobody was hurt. Nobody was threatened.… We had no reason to believe that this man was anything other than one of our valuable customers.… This is now in the hands of law enforcement and of course we will cooperate with authorities.”

The Girl Scouts of Greenville are saddened by the actions of McGowen and maintain that the girls are safe and that McGowen presented no form of danger or threat. It has not yet been reported if the Girl Scouts plan on returning the money,

McGowen has been charged with a total of eight drug-related counts and has further been charged with racketeering and conspiracy to deceive the United States.

This story has been reported by a variety of news networks. CNN, NPR, The Washington Post and more have written about the intriguing story. The overall draw to the story is that you never really know a person. A criminal may be who you least expect.