Mary Meaux
The Port Arthur News
PORT NECHES —
At first glance a box filled with comforters, or a pink stuffed toy dog, may have looked like a loving gift shipped for Sunday’s Mother’s Day celebrations, but a closer look revealed something illegal.
In two separate incidents during this year’s Mother’s Day shipping season, Jefferson County drug task force investigators discovered illegal drugs sent to Beaumont, both in the guise of Mother’s Day presents.
“The fact is, they were using Mother’s Day as a cover,” Deputy Ron Hobbs with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, said Monday.
In both cases, security people working for the shipping couriers alerted local law enforcement when they suspected the presents were not what they seemed, Hobbs said.
According to a press release issued by the sheriff’s department, officers on Thursday intercepted 10 pounds of hydroponic marijuana shipped in a box filled with comforters and a Mother’s Day card addressed to a home in Northwest Jefferson County.
On Friday, officers intercepted a package shipped from California to a Beaumont apartment containing three pounds of hydroponic marijuana and one ounce of hashish. The drugs were hidden inside a large pink stuffed toy dog and enclosed with a Mother’s Day card.
In the first case, Hobbs said while officers were attempting to identify the persons receiving the shipment, they encountered a man who looked as if he was expecting a delivery.
When the officers stopped the vehicle driven by Beaumont resident Dustin Christopher Byerly they found him to be in possession of a firearm. After it was determined Byerly, 24, was a felon, he was arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm.
Byerly is in jail with a bond of $30,000.
The drugs have a street value of approximately $85,000 to $90,000.
The investigation regarding the identities of all persons involved with the illegal shipments is ongoing.
skoonce@panews.com
