Authorities in Maryland have recently seized marijuana gum balls and cocaine-filled guitars.
But heroin in jigsaw puzzles?
That?s what federal authorities say Calvin Mcrae, 38, of Columbia, was caught smuggling into the United States.
U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake on Wednesday sentenced Mcrae to nine years in prison after he pleaded guilty to attempted possession with intent to distribute heroin.
Federal authorities say they caught Mcrae in a sting operation that began after they inspected a parcel arriving on an inbound flight from South America on Aug. 9. The package was addressed to Mcrae?s home address in the 1200 block of Little Patuxent Parkway and sent from an individual in Cali, Colombia. It contained a fake name for Mcrae, officials said.
Inside the parcel were four cardboard jigsaw puzzles that seemed unusually thick ? causing the agents to cut open one of the puzzle pieces, prosecutors said. Inside the puzzle piece was a small plastic bag containing a powdery substance that forensic testing identified as heroin.
On Aug. 14, an undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent posed as a delivery man and took the parcel to Mcrae outside his apartment, according to prosecutors.
Mcrae signed for the package, using the fake name, and was later arrested after he opened the parcel, authorities said.
ICE agents seized the parcel along with a .44-caliber revolver and a loaded .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun, they said. Agents also seized a loaded 9mm handgun from the center console of Mcrae?s car, according to a statement of facts in the case.
Inside Mcrae?s apartment, agents recovered ammunition, money, a ledger detailing payments, foreign telephone numbers, 140 grams of suspected marijuana, powders commonly used to cut heroin, scales and 72 glass vials, prosecutors said.
