DATE: Wednesday, March 12, 1997             TAG: 9703120432

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                      LENGTH:   32 lines

MISDELIVERY OF PACKAGE NETS MARIJUANA ARRESTS

A woman who opened a UPS package that was mistakenly delivered to her address took the box to police when she found 14 pounds of marijuana inside, investigators said.

The package, which came from Los Angeles, was delivered Saturday.

The box was addressed to Demeatrice Langford, 20, and Marvin Shaw, 21, said police spokesman Pete Edgette.

Both men were arrested Saturday and charged with transporting marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, Edgette said.

Edgette said police arranged to have the package delivered to the correct address.

``Once the men were in receipt of the package and therefore in possession of the marijuana, we arrested them,'' he said.

There was probably less than a minute between the time an officer delivered the package and the arrest, he added.

Commonwealth's Attorney Howard Gwynn, who will likely prosecute the case, said the officers' actions could not be perceived as entrapment because they did not induce the men to commit the crime.

``Entrapment is a situation when a person doesn't have any inclination to commit a crime and the inclination is provided by the police,'' he said.

``If the police simply intercept the package and deliver it to you, it was still your original inclination.'' KEYWORDS: DRUG ARREST

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