"White Christmas": Cocaine arrives in holiday wrapping
BOSTON -- A Massachusetts man was caught allegedly accepting a package from Colombia containing more than 200 grams of cocaine hidden in Christmas-themed packaging, reports CBS Boston.
Nonso Obiora, 28, of Randolph, Mass., was arrested Wednesday for drug trafficking after he took possession of the drugs, delivered via UPS.
The Suffolk County District Attorney's office said UPS employees turned the package over to Customs and Border Protection officials last week. Customs officers inspected the package, which contained two cardboard tubes covered in Christmas-themed wrapping paper, and allegedly found about 230 grams of cocaine hidden in the bases of the tubes.
The package was then sent to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Boston, officials said. It was addressed to "Victor Velasquez" in Dorchester, Mass., but nobody by that name was found at the listed address, authorities said.
Boston police, state troopers, and ICE agents tried to deliver the package last Monday, but nobody answered the door, officials said.
When they tried again Tuesday, a woman who answered the door said she could accept packages for "Velasquez."
After the woman signed for the package, police told her it contained a large amount of cocaine. They allowed her to text "Velasquez" and make plans for him to pick up the package.
Around 3 p.m. Tuesday, Obiora -- aka Velasquez -- arrived to pick it up and was arrested. Police say Obiora has been convicted in the past for possession of a Class B substance with intent to distribute.
Police said Obiora also had five grams of heroin in the vehicle he drove to get the package.
Obiora was arraigned Wednesday in Dorchester Municipal Court, where he was held on $250,000 cash bail and ordered to surrender his passport. He is due back in court Jan. 5.