Eugene, Oregon| Eleanor Davidson was in for a surprise when she opened the package that the postman brought her on Monday.
She thought she had finally received the Afghan wool she had ordered over the internet, but she rapidly found out otherwise. The package contained a large quantity of a yellowish white powder in plastic wrapping, which turned out to be heroin.
“I went directly to the post office to complain, because this package was not mine and I wanted my wool” the elderly woman told to reporters. “The lady at the counter looked at me in a funny way and called the police. At first, I didn’t understand what was happening, but the police officers told me that my package was full of drugs! That’s horrible… I don’t want any drugs around my house, they kill people! I’m happy I got rid of it!“
The analysis of the package revealed that it contained a total of 6916.5 grams of heroin, with a level of purity of more than 98%. Once cut and sold, it could reach a street value of just over a million dollars, according to experts.
The officers of the Eugene Police Department, who conducted the seizure, admitted that this episode is unusual to say the least. They believe that a simple mistake in the delivery address on the part the expeditor, could be at the origin of this unexpected drug bust.
“We would really love it if this kind of incident happened more often,” said Captain Barry Jenkins, of the EPD, “it would certainly make our job a lot easier. This is one of the strangest cases I have seen in my career. It’s unclear for now, who this drug was destined to, but there’s certainly a very unhappy drug dealer somewhere, waiting for his heroin.”
According to Captain Jenkins, the investigation will now be transferred to the DEA, who will attempt to determine the origin of the drugs and the “real” destination of the package.
An ever increasing quantity of narcotics goes through the U.S. postal services every year, according to the DEA. The number of drug busts and arrests increases every year, but a large quantity of drugs still gets to its destination without being intercepted.
In 2012, the U.S postal services caught 42,000 pounds of marijuana, leading to 2,299 arrests and indictments for mailing controlled substances. In 2013, it seized 45,000 pounds, leading to 2,622 arrests.
While marijuana still represents the vast majority of illegal narcotics seized every year, increasing quantities of other substances like synthetic drugs and heroin are also being seized.