The manager of a Minnesota movie theatre has been caught allegedly selling cocaine hidden inside bags of popcorn.
Jamie Lynn Hiniker, 39, is the manager at the four-screen Spotlight Theatres in Mankato. But she was arrested after she allegedly sold the cocaine-loaded popcorn to a police informant.
Hiniker's identity was published in a criminal complaint on Thursday, where she was charged with selling narcotics. If convicted she could face 20 years in prison, a US$250,000 fine, or both.
A probable cause affidavit obtained by US crime website The Smoking Gun reveals just how police used an informant to track Hiniker's side-hustle.
The investigator knew through previous investigations that Hiniker "currently worked at a movie theatre in Mankato and that the sale of cocaine typically took place behind the theatre in an alley or at the theatre in a popcorn container with popcorn".
Police sent their informant into the cinema to buy US$100 worth of cocaine off Hiniker.
Hiniker is said to have put a bag of the drug at the bottom of a popcorn package. She then sprinkled popcorn on top to conceal it.
The informant turned the bag over to police who on later analysis found it contained .406g of cocaine.
Hiniker has faced previous charges of obstruction, theft, malicious punishment of a child, driving under the influence and drug possession.
