Parolee mistakenly texted parole office to set up drug deal

May 11 (UPI) -- Authorities in Arizona said they arrested seven people on drug charges after a man on parole mistakenly texted a parole office employee for a drug deal.

The Mohave County Sheriff's Office said the Mohave Area General Narcotics Enforcement Team was contacted by the Arizona Department of Corrections Parole Office after parolee Christopher Willmon, 46, sent an apparent wrong-number text to a department official seeking to sell heroin.

It was unclear whether Willmon had texted his own parole officer with the offer.

The narcotics enforcement team arranged to make a purchase from Willmon, and he was found at the agreed-upon time Tuesday hiding in a shed with the heroin he was allegedly planning to sell.

Investigators searched the property and discovered paraphernalia related to methamphetamine, the sheriff's office said. The property owner, Jon Dudek, 65, told investigators he had been selling meth for more than 50 years.

Five other people on the property at the time were arrested on paraphernalia and possession charges.