Store owner charged with selling fake urine

CRESTWOOD, Ill. — A suburban Chicago store owner has been charged with selling synthetic urine to help people pass drug and alcohol tests.

The Cook County Sheriff's office said Taher Yousef of Crestwood allegedly sold a kit called "U Pass" to an undercover officer Monday at his store, Tobacco Land Plus, in Crestwood. The kit included hand warmers that authorities say are used to heat the synthetic urine before submitting it for testing.

The 56-year-old Yousef was charged with a felony count of selling a synthetic substance with the intent of use it to defraud an alcohol or drug test.

The sheriff's office said the only legitimate reason to possess synthetic urine is to calibrate drug testing equipment.

A phone call to the store seeking comment wasn't answered. Yousef doesn't have a listed number in Crestwood.

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