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Man busted with 14 lbs. of pot
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Smithville K9 Officer Leo, Officer Cornelius, Sheriff's Detective Jeremy Taylor and Sheriff Patrick Ray are shown with the confiscated marijuana.

 

A 74-year-old Dowelltown man was arrested and charged with sale of a controlled substance after an investigation allegedly revealed that he had received a package at the Liberty Post Office containing 14 pounds of marijuana.

 

According to Sheriff Patrick Ray, John Harris was taken into custody last Wednesday by the DeKalb County Sheriff's Department after an investigation by Detectives of the DeKalb County Sheriff's Department and United States Postal Service Inspectors.

 

In a prepared statement, Ray said "Sheriff’s Department Drug Detective Jeremy Taylor went to the Liberty Post Office on Wednesday and met with an inspector from the US Postal Service. Based upon US Postal Service profiles and information that was obtained by a US Postal Service Inspector about a sealed package that had been delivered to the Liberty Post Office, Detective Taylor summoned Smithville Police Department K-9 Officer James Cornelius and his K-9 Leo to the scene. Leo alerted to Officer Cornelius that an illegal substance was in the sealed targeted package," the sheriff shared.

 

"After the alert from the K-9 that an illegal substance was present in the package, officers waited for someone to come and pick up the target package from the post office. After a short wait, Harris came and picked up the package. Officers then witnessed Harris attempt to take the package and place it in his personal vehicle. Officers then raided Harris and seized the targeted package. Harris gave permission for officers to look inside of the package and found were approximately 14 pounds of marijuana in 18 individual bags."

 

Ray said the illegal weed seized in the bust was not typical of the pot his department usually recovers. “This marijuana is not the kind we regularly see here. These bags of marijuana were packaged in Ziploc bags and then were vacuumed packed. This was to hide the distinct smell that marijuana gives off. The bags weighed anywhere from 10 ounces to just over a pound. Written on each of the bags were different strains of marijuana. Purple Diesel, Blue Dream and Buddha Cheese were just a few of the strains listed. Street value for the marijuana is anywhere from $375 to $454 an ounce or $5,712.00 to $7,264 a pound.”

 

Ray said Detective Taylor also seized cash and a 2009 Dodge Avenger from Harris. His bond was set at $10,000 and he will appear in court on Sept. 11.