08-23-2010, 05:07 PM
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100.../308230022
When border guards in Cincinnati took a closer look at the tombstone for âDelroy Seniorâ last week, they found it offered more than kind words for the dearly departed.
More than 50 pounds of marijuana was packed inside the hollowed-out grave marker.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers say the discovery is a first for Cincinnati, where theyâve found drugs packed into all sorts of objects but never one quite like this.
Customs spokesman Brian Bell said officers at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport tagged the shipment as suspicious because they couldnât figure out why anyone would send a tombstone from Jamaica to England, where one could be purchased without the cost of shipping it across the Atlantic.
âIt all came down to, why would you ship a tombstone?â Bell said. âThey can be made anywhere.â
He said a dog trained to sniff out drugs alerted when it got close to the stone, so the officers ran it through an x-ray machine and found it was a concrete shell.
They then drilled holes into the stone and discovered about 52 pounds of marijuana.
The stone is made of regular concrete, but it was hand painted to look more like a granite tombstone. The message painted on the marker is dedicated to âDelroy Senior,â who is purported to be a 35-year-old man who was âlate of England and Jamaica.â
âOur thoughts are always with you, your place no one can fill,â the message reads.
Bell said efforts to find the stoneâs sender â or the intended recipient â have failed because everyone involved used fake names and addresses.
âEverything came up as a dead end,â Bell said.
When border guards in Cincinnati took a closer look at the tombstone for âDelroy Seniorâ last week, they found it offered more than kind words for the dearly departed.
More than 50 pounds of marijuana was packed inside the hollowed-out grave marker.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers say the discovery is a first for Cincinnati, where theyâve found drugs packed into all sorts of objects but never one quite like this.
Customs spokesman Brian Bell said officers at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport tagged the shipment as suspicious because they couldnât figure out why anyone would send a tombstone from Jamaica to England, where one could be purchased without the cost of shipping it across the Atlantic.
âIt all came down to, why would you ship a tombstone?â Bell said. âThey can be made anywhere.â
He said a dog trained to sniff out drugs alerted when it got close to the stone, so the officers ran it through an x-ray machine and found it was a concrete shell.
They then drilled holes into the stone and discovered about 52 pounds of marijuana.
The stone is made of regular concrete, but it was hand painted to look more like a granite tombstone. The message painted on the marker is dedicated to âDelroy Senior,â who is purported to be a 35-year-old man who was âlate of England and Jamaica.â
âOur thoughts are always with you, your place no one can fill,â the message reads.
Bell said efforts to find the stoneâs sender â or the intended recipient â have failed because everyone involved used fake names and addresses.
âEverything came up as a dead end,â Bell said.