DELIVERY MIX-UP SENDS US$9.2M IN DRUGS TO FAMILY

'Sort Of A Booboo'

A South Carolina family waiting for a furniture shipment from overseas got
more than they bargained for this week when delivery men left a crate
outside their home containing 2,300 kilograms of marijuana.

Police say the drugs, with a street value of US$9.2-million, were likely
smuggled into the United States by ship, before a mix-up at the port sent
them on Monday to the family's home outside Seneca, in the northwest corner
of South Carolina.

"That's sort of a booboo on somebody's part," said James Singleton, the
Oconee County Sheriff, who added the family contacted authorities
immediately and are not suspects in the case.

Officers found 63 burlap sacks in the shipping crate, each containing four
nine-kilogram bags of marijuana.

Sheriff Singleton said he doubted the drugs were meant for Oconee County.
"This is sort of a small rural county ... I don't think it was intended to
come to this area. We're just not big enough to move [that amount of drugs]."

He was tight-lipped about the investigation, refusing to comment on what
country the drugs came from or for what market they were intended. He also
declined to name the shipping company or the port they passed through.

The drugs are being held at a secret location and the federal Drug
Enforcement Administration has taken over the investigation.