drug operation mikes candystore charged after link to colin kroll's death

New York City police have arrested and charged six men with operating Mike's Candyshop, an illicit drug delivery service linked to the death of HQ and Vine co-founder Colin Kroll. Arrested and charged with conspiring to distribute heroin, they now face a mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison.

Authorities began investigating Mike's Candyshop after discovering the number in Kroll's recent messages. In the hours before his death, Kroll had ordered items like a "shirt" and a "book." The curious items would later be determined to be code for drugs.

The indictment explains that Mike's Candyshop operated like a number of other food delivery services. Approved members would text orders to a centralized number and a dispatcher would work with couriers to deliver drugs directly to customers. Employees of the Candyshop would work in shifts and take holidays, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas off.

According to the New York Times:

They had defined roles, like the operator who took orders and arranged deliveries; couriers who took the orders into the field, and relayed their whereabouts to the operator, who kept customers updated; and a manager, who oversaw the day-to-day logistics, supplies and cash flow.

Colin Kroll was found dead in December 2018 after his girlfriend requested a wellness check on him. Authorities found numerous pieces of drug ephemera, such as empty vials, powder and envelopes, at the scene.

Kroll had rose to prominence in Silicon Valley and the culture at large with Vine, the short-form video application he founded with Rus Yusupov. The two would later go on to found the HQ live-stream video game.