Meth hidden in papayas mailed to Alaska

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- An Anchorage man was arrested and charged for receiving in the mail more than four pounds of methamphetamine hidden inside six papayas, officials said.

San Saechao, 25, was charged with possession of drugs and intention to distribute the meth, the Anchorage Daily News reported Saturday.

An Anchorage postal inspector on Tuesday got a search warrant to look inside the sent Express Mail package, which came from Visalia, Calif. The Daily News reported it was unclear why the package was suspected of illegal contents.

The papayas found in the package were cut in half and contained an approximate total of 1,843 grams of meth in vacuum-sealed bags, court records showed.

Police replaced the meth with fake drugs and a monitoring device to alert them when the package was opened.

Officers watching the package's delivery and following as it was moved from one house to another, entered an Anchorage home when the alert tone went off. They found two men, three women and four children, with the package open in the living room. An invisible spray glowed on Saechao's hands, indicating he had handled the phony drugs, police said. The papayas were all found in a trash can in the kitchen, the Daily News reported.

Police found another 117 grams of meth, $8,478 in cash, around a half-ounce of marijuana and two guns, the charges say.