Ocean Isle Beach man gets special delivery: a box of pot

[jimpasz]

Ocean Isle Beach man gets special delivery: a box of pot

By Paul Jefferson
Staff Writer
paul.jefferson@starnewsonline.com


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A tip from Texas helped the Brunswick County Sheriff's Office intercept a boxed bale of marijuana bound for Ocean Isle Beach, authorities said.

Jose Enrique Hernandez, 36, of 7114 Dale Ave., Ocean Isle Beach, was arrested late Monday by deputies after identifying himself and accepting the pot package addressed with his name, Sheriff Ronald Hewett said Tuesday.

Hewett said Hernandez was arrested without incident by undercover deputies posing as package deliverers. Two other people at the residence were cited with simple marijuana possession but were not arrested, he said.

The box addressed to Hernandez contained 33.5 pounds of marijuana and was likely shipped from Mission, Texas, Hewett said, speaking over a table with the marijuana spread out on it. He estimated the street value of the marijuana at $70,000.

The sheriff said Hernandez was "already on our radar" about possible involvement in drug shipments to the area when the office received an alert from a federal agent about a shipment headed to Southeastern North Carolina.

Working with the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office, Brunswick deputies tracked the marijuana package to a Wilmington packing and shipping business, where a police dog sniffed the box and alerted officers to the presence of drugs. Hewett wouldn't identify the business.

Hernandez, who has admitted to entering the United States illegally, is charged with one count each of marijuana trafficking, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of drug paraphernalia, Hewett said. He is being held at the Brunswick County Detention Center with bail set at $110,500.

Because he has admitted to being an illegal alien, Hewett said, the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency will be notified and the department will ask that a hold be placed on Hernandez, preventing his release under bond.

Paul Jefferson 538-2955

paul.jefferson@starnewsonline.com
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs ... e=currents

[pjr40]

Are these the hispanic "moral values" touted by President Bush?