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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 6, 1993                   TAG: 9310060157
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

NEIGHBOR DELIVERS MARIJUANA ARREST

When the package arrived at the house on Nina Lane, the 26-year-old resident thought it was a calculator sent by his father.

Instead, the balled-up newspaper contained an ounce of marijuana. Then the man noticed it was a case of mistaken delivery. The package was addressed to Nina Circle.

"I was like, `Wait a minute.' There was just this bag of marijuana sitting in there," said the man, who asked that his name be withheld. "I knew it didn't belong here. I knew that much. I knew I couldn't call the post office and say, `Hey, come and pick this up.' "

Instead, he called police.

"I thought the postal inspectors could have been tracing the package, and I was worrying they or someone was going to come busting into my house," the man said.

After talking to the man, police Lt. D.V. Linhart arranged with the U.S. Postal Service to have the package delivered to the correct address.

"I waited in the postal truck so I could see who signed for the package. Then a team of task force agents went into the house," Linhart said. "The lady who had signed for it was standing at the kitchen counter. She had opened it immediately."

Police found the ounce of marijuana and an additional 20 grams of the drug, packaged individually as if for sale, Linhart said.

Officers arrested Malea M. Street, 29, and her husband, Samuel R. Street, 40, and charged them with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, Linhart said.

Postal Inspector Sherwin Green was trying to determine where the package came from. It had been mailed in Texas.

"We've made arrests like this before because of wrong deliveries," Linhart said. But because the sender used only his first name, he might be hard to locate, the lieutenant said.

The man who got the misdirected package believes he did the right thing.

"I mean, they might sell this stuff to kids," he said. "What really gets me is, I don't see how the postal inspectors could have missed this. As soon as I opened it, I could smell it. Any dog could have smelled it."

by CNB