
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 18, 1993                   TAG: 9307180081
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT                                LENGTH: Medium

SOMETHING'S FISHY: CUSTOMS FINDS POT IN ROTTING SEAFOOD

A package of seafood sent from Nigeria didn't pass customs - not because it was rotting, but because it also contained about $3,500 worth of marijuana.

The 2.2 pounds of marijuana sent to Isle of Wight was packaged with pieces of fish, shrimp, crawfish, peppers and "all kinds of stinking stuff," said Lt. Randy Gardner of the Isle of Wight Sheriff's Department. "My office just totally stinks right now."

The pungent packaging material was apparently used to disguise the marijuana's odor, which can be detected by drug-sniffing dogs, Gardner said.

But it didn't do much good. Officials at the U.S. Customs international mail facility at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York discovered the drugs July 6 because the package appeared suspicious. Just being mailed from Nigeria - a "hot bed for smuggling" according to one agent - might have been enough.

Another box from Nigeria contained 8 pounds of marijuana, but no seafood.

The special deliveries led police to arrest two men on drug trafficking charges.

Last week, customs agents worked with U.S. postal inspectors and local police to deliver the re-sealed packages. The seafood box went to a house in Isle of Wight and the other box went to a Norfolk post-office box.

On Tuesday, a man picked up the package from Norfolk and drove to Newport News, said Lt. Marvin Evans, head of the Newport News police vice and narcotics squad.

Police arrested Adrian Sims, 21, of Hampton, Evans said. A search of Sims' car found the package and the drugs, which had a street value of about $6,000. Sims is in jail in lieu of $10,000 bond.

In Isle of Wight, the package was delivered to Joe L. Justice, 36, on Wednesday.

Police waited seven hours for Justice to return home and open the package, Gardner said. When he didn't, officers armed with a search warrant entered his house. Inside, they found a half-ounce of marijuana, scales, plastic bags and other drug packaging materials, Gardner said.

Several hours later, Justice was arrested at Newport News Shipbuilding, where he works. He is free on $5,000 bond.

by CNB