A McDonald's employee in Pittsburgh was arrested Wednesday on charges of distributing drugs from the fast food restaurant, the Associated Press reported.
ShanTia Denni, 26, allegedly sold heroin hidden in Happy Meal boxes to drive-thru customers who said the code words: "I'd like to order a toy," the AP reported. It is not known how many people Denni was dealing to through the drive-thru.
Investigators said they have no reason to believe the store's owner was aware of it.
"We have no indication the owner knew of this and neither suspect has, to this point, implicated the owner or anyone else at either restaurant," Mike Manko, spokesman for the Allegheny County district attorney's office, told the AP.
Manko said after the code words were uttered, the customer would then be told to proceed to the first window where they would be handed a Happy Meal box containing heroin.
Denni was arrested after undercover police officers conducted a drug buy, CNN reported citing a criminal complaint. After the drug buy, they recovered 10 stamp bags of heroin inside of a Happy Meal box, according to the statement.
They immediately arrested Denni and found an additional 50 bags of heroin, as well as a small amount of marijuana. She denied any wrongdoing while she was carried away in handcuffs.
Iftikhar Malik, owner of the franchise where the heroin deals occurred, also owns another McDonald's a few miles away where a different employee was charged with dealing heroin earlier this month. Investigators do not think the McDonalds franchise owner was aware of Denni's drug deals, WebProNews reported.
"As an employer and a member of the community, the safety of our guests and employees is our first priority. The allegations related to this employee do not represent acceptable behaviors and are not consistent with my values. As such, we take these charges very seriously and we are fully cooperating with the authorities. We are also conducting our own thorough internal investigation," Malik said in a statement.
Denni is charged with two counts of drug possession, one count of criminal use of a communication facility, one count of prohibited acts of delivery and one count of possession with intent to deliver, CNN reported.
