A suspicious-smelling mail package led to the arrest of two people Tuesday on marijuana and cocaine charges.
Larry Gibbons, 34, is charged with dealing in cocaine, dealing in marijuana and maintaining a common nuisance. The cocaine charge is a high-level felony that could carry 10 to 30 years in prison. Eureka Gordon, 27, is charged with maintaining a common nuisance and possession of marijuana.
Bloomington police were contacted Tuesday afternoon by United States postal inspectors, who intercepted a package containing marijuana and wanted the Bloomington Police Department’s assistance in making a controlled delivery, BPD Sgt. Dana Cole said. The package had been stopped after an employee noted it smelled like marijuana.
Officers went on the delivery to the couple’s residence on the 2500 block of South Rockport Road.
When the package was delivered, a detective made contact with Gibbons, the homeowner, who gave consent for the detective to open the package. In the package, the detective found vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana. From the door, he could see a metal grinder and a rubber-banded stack of currency on the living room table, as well as a digital scale and a vacuum-sealer in the kitchen.
The detective asked Gibbons if he could search the residence. Gibbons declined. BPD secured the area and obtained a search warrant.
During the search, police found several bags in dresser drawers that contained smaller individual bags of a powder-like substance, later determined to be cocaine. They also found several glass jars and vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana, three handguns belonging to Gibbons and, on the coffee table, $3,700 in cash.
The police report did not give total weights of the drugs found, Cole said, but the charges indicate police found at least 10 grams of cocaine and 30 grams of marijuana.
Gibbons returned with police to BPD headquarters, where he admitted the marijuana was his, except for what was in the glass jars, which he said belonged to Gordon. He told police he used to sell marijuana, but that the cocaine was for his personal use. He was arrested on a dealing charge based on how the cocaine was packaged.
Gordon told police she had previously found the cocaine in the apartment and told Gibbons to get rid of it. She admitted to knowing Gibbons dealt marijuana but said the dealing had always been done outside the apartment, not from it.
Both were arrested and taken to Monroe County Correctional Center.
Jack Evans
