TEDDY BEAR WITH POT -- 2 ARRESTED

Overnight Package Had Marijuana Hidden Inside Toy

A Rohnert Park man and his girlfriend were arrested after the owner
of a shipping store opened a package the man was sending and found a
teddy bear stuffed with nearly a pound of marijuana, authorities said Monday.

[names and ages deleted] were arrested Friday on drug and related charges.

The owner of the store told police he had grown suspicious of [name
deleted] because he had been sending overnight packages every two
weeks for several months to different addresses in Wisconsin.

[name deleted] was paying top dollar to ship items overnight using
DHL, said Rohnert Park police Sgt. Art Sweeney.

The shipping store owner "thought something didn't fit," Sweeney said.

The owner contacted police Thursday after he opened one of the
packages and found a teddy bear with crude stitching covering a cut
in the fabric and a heavy object inside.

Sweeney said that as the proprietor of the store, the man had a right
to inspect customers' goods to ensure they weren't dangerous or
illegal before shipping them.

Police opened the stuffed animal and found a ball consisting of 30
feet of cellophane layered with yellow mustard and powdered carpet
deodorizer surrounding a heat-sealed package of marijuana, authorities said.

Police said drug dealers commonly use such packaging to put
narcotics- sniffing dogs off the scent.

[name deleted] had been tracking the package on the Internet and
called the store Friday to ask why the shipment was still in Rohnert
Park. The owner -- as instructed by police -- told [name deleted]
that he needed to return to the store and pay a few more dollars in
shipping costs.

A few minutes later, [name deleted] and his girlfriend arrived and
gave the owner more money.

Officers stopped the car as [name deleted] drove away and found half
a gram of methamphetamine on both [names deleted], police said.

Police searched the couple's apartment on [address deleted] and said
they had found evidence linking [name deleted] to the shipment at
issue as well as previous shipments. Investigators also found shotgun
shells and a small quantity of methamphetamine, police said.

[name deleted], who has served several prison terms for drug
convictions, told police that he had been shipping the packages for a
friend, authorities said. He said he didn't know what was in them, or
how to reach the friend.

[name deleted] was booked into Sonoma County jail on $25,000 bail on
charges of possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia,
shipping drugs over state lines, transporting marijuana and being a
felon in possession of firearms ammunition.

[name deleted] was being held without bail and was charged with
possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia,
violation of probation and driving with a suspended license. She is
on probation in Sonoma County for a drug possession conviction,
authorities said.