Police Setup Sting As UPS Driver To Arrest Man Receiving Pot-Stuffed Clocks
CICERO, Ill. (STMW) -- Police on Monday posed as UPS employees to nab a west suburban man accepting packages of wooden clocks jammed with $600,000 worth of compressed cannabis.
Roberto Carlin, 38, of the 1800 block of S. 61st Ave. in Cicero was charged with one count each of possession of cannabis and possession of cannabis with intent to deliver after the sting, Town of Cicero spokesman Ray Hanania said.
The investigation began after federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials notified Cicero police that they intercepted a shipment of cannabis in Kentucky that was earmarked for delivery to a Cicero address, Hanania said.
Cicero police brought the packages to Cicero, where a K-9 officer and his dog did an immediate search and the dog hit on all three packages, Hanania said.
At the same time, police made arrangements to deliver the packages to the intended address to nab the recipient.
With the help of UPS, which supplied a vehicle and driver to deliver the packages, officers arrived at the intended address and found a note on the window that said to deliver the packages to Jose Gomez, the man listed on the packages.
A Cicero cop posing as a UPS deliveryman spoke with a man claiming to be Gomez, who signed for the delivery and was immediately arrested. Police immediately identified the suspect as Carlin.
When police finally opened the packages at the police station, expecting to find marijuana, they instead found 36 wooden clocks.
K-9 units again made positive hits on all of the clocks, and officers were advised by the Cook County State's Attorney's office to disassemble the clocks. Inside, officers found the cannabis was packed into the structure of the clocks, with each containing 1,500 to 1,800 grams of compressed cannabis, Hanania said.
During an interview with police, Carlin admitted knowing there was cannabis in the packages when he accepted them, Hanania said.
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