MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Millions of packages are moved through Memphis every day. We are home to one of the largest shipping hubs in the country.
Some drug dealers are trying to take advantage of the business by hoping no one will notice a package full of drugs.
A detective and his drug dog were scanning packages at a sorting facility in Memphis when a box from Los Angeles caught their attention.
Police said inside the package was 1.25 pounds of marijuana and two fake IDs.
The detective said he threw on a FedEx uniform and went undercover to make a surprise delivery to the address in Midtown on Buena Vista near Overton Park.
Augustus Gottlieb, 18, is now facing charges for the marijuana, as well as some cocaine police said they found in his school backpack.
No one came to the door, but neighbors came to the defense.
“They are upstanding citizens, and I consider them to be some of the best people we have in Midtown,” said neighbor Ashley Donati.
Within days and several hundred miles away, police intercepted another package headed to Memphis.
A shipping clerk near Columbus, Ohio, told police a man tried sending a pink teddy bear stuffed with a pint-sized bottle of codeine.
“She noticed it was heavy, and it seemed odd to her. Just as things went along, he was giving bad information for his address. She was just very suspicious,” said investigator Sgt. John Grebb.
MPD and Shelby County deputies said they’re working with postal inspectors and shipping giants to sniff out the drugs.
FedEx said it’s involved in the investigations, too, but does not “publicly disclose details of these procedures.”
The U.S. Postal Service has claimed it’s seen more drugs in the mail but doesn’t know if that’s because more people are shipping them or they’re getting better at detecting them.
Gottlieb is due in court next week. He’s being held on a $60,000 bond.
Police in Columbus have not caught the man who tried to ship the teddy bear.