A Capitol Hill couple got more than they bargained for after what they thought was a routine Fed Ex delivery. The box they received contained $120,000 worth of pot, MyFoxDC.com reported.
Melanie Sloan knows a scam when she sees it. She's a former prosecutor and works for the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, so when a big package was dropped on her porch Monday evening, something didn't seem right.
"I noticed that the package was ours but the name on the box wasn't and it was shipping center return address in Anaheim, California. So I thought that was strange," says Sloan.
Still she thought it could be for a neighbor or even a gift for their 11-month-old baby girl. So they decided to open it. Inside the box was another box wrapped with insulation.
"It's layer upon layer of tightly wrapped plastic wrap. And it looks like there is dirt on the inside of that. So my husband pokes through the plastic wrap and touches it and he said it's not dirt its coffee grounds. Then I did know what it was. I knew it would be drugs," says Sloan.
Turns out it was 35 pounds of marijuana or the equivalent of $120,000 worth of pot. They called DC Police immediately and Melanie had serious concerns she too might be treated like another unsuspecting recipient of a drug package, Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye M. Calvo.
"That's a pretty memorable story. And anybody that has some kind of drug issue would be naturally nervous, especially those of us with dogs," says Sloan.
In the summer of 2008 - a swat team busted through the Mayor Calvo's front door, shot and killed his dogs and interrogated him for hours. Calvo was found to be an innocent victim in an all too familiar game.
Here's how the game works: the dealer has the package delivered to an address where they don't believe anyone is home during the day and they pick it up the package before anyone gets home. But in this case that didn't happen.
MPD is investigating where the package came from and who it was intended for. Meantime Fed Ex says it does work with law enforcement to screen packages.
For Melanie Sloan says she's still on edge, but thankful nothing worse could have happened.
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