Gulp!

Customs and Border Protection earlier today announced the arrests of two hashish smugglers at Philadelphia International Airport in separate incidents this month.

Officials referred to the smugglers as "swallowers" because they had ingested a combined 1.5 pounds of hashish which had been stored in tiny plastic pellets. The pellets are typically made from latex gloves and condoms.

The first of the swallowing smugglers, Sanchez Smith, 20, was arrested after he arrived at Philly International on Sept. 18 on a flight from Jamaica. He intended to catch another flight to Bermuda, said Steve Sapp, a Customs and Border Protection spokesman.

Smith admitted to Customs officials at the airport that he was a smuggler, Sapp said. Smith spent about a week in a local hospital, where he eventually passed 74 pellets that contained 469.8 grams of hashish, worth about $13,000. Smith was released from the hospital on Saturday and turned over to Pennsylvania State Police, Sapp said.

On Friday, Customs officials arrested another smuggler, Shakai Darrell, 25, at Philly International, Sapp said. Smith had also traveled from Jamaica with the intention of catching a flight to Bermuda. He was released to Philadelphia police on Monday, after he had passed 38 pellets of hash at a local hospital, Sapp said. The pellets weighed 300 grams and were worth about $8,500.

Sapp said investigators believed Smith and Darrell were a part of the same drug smuggling ring.

"It's very difficult to detect [swallowers]," Sapp said. "It's extremely dangerous work. If one of those pellets are breached inside their body, it can end up killing them."

A woman in her 20s was hit by a car and critically injured in Parkside shortly after 4:30 p.m. today, police said. The victim, whose name was not released, was struck near 51st Street and Parkside Avenue.

She was admitted to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in critical condition, said Sgt. Larry Ritchie of the police Accident Investigation Division. Ritchie said it was unclear how the accident occurred. The driver of the striking vehicle stayed at the scene, he noted.

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Police earlier today released surveillance images of two armed robbers who held up Paulino’s Grocery Store, on Wyoming Avenue near A Street, on Sept. 2. The owner of the store and three customers were all robbed. One customer was treated for a head injury after being struck in the head with a bottle by one of the thieves. Both crooks fled on foot. Tipsters who recognize these two thugs can contact East Detectives at 215-686-3243.

A man in his 20s drove himself to the hospital after he was shot twice in South Philadelphia earlier tonight. The man was wounded in the arm and back on Bucknell Street near Federal about 9 p.m., said Lt. Martin Derbyshire of South Detectives. The victim, whose name was not released, managed to to drive to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. His condition wasn't immediately available.

Derbyshire said the shooting followed an apparent argument on Bucknell Street. Police had no suspects, however.

Philadelphia police are trying to identify two men who were separately spotted photographing parts of the Broad Street subway line earlier this week.
Aware that the mere mention of such activity could trigger terrorism fears, authorities were quick to note yesterday that neither incident seemed ominous.
“We don’t believe either one of these events are terrorism-related, or that there’s any connection to what’s been going on in New York,” said Homeland Security Chief Inspector Joseph Sullivan, alluding to an alleged terrorist plot there that had led to three arrests.
The first incident in the local subways occurred about 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, when a bearded white man in his 20s apparently took pictures of the underground area at the Snyder Avenue stop in South Philadelphia, Sullivan said.
SEPTA security cameras captured footage of the man, who had a backpack and a ponytail, as he left the station.
Shortly after 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, a SEPTA cashier noticed a clean-shaven “Middle Eastern” man with close-cropped hair taking pictures at the Lombard Street station, he said.
The cashier confronted the man, who proceeded to show her images of other subway facilities on his camera. He then indicated that he was deleting the pictures and left, Sullivan said.
No footage was taken of the man because the security cameras at the Lombard station were not working.
“We feel confident this is nothing to be alarmed about,” Sullivan said, “but we do implore people to call us when you see something unusual, and let us make the determination.”
Investigators frequently respond to reports of people taking photos of trains and subways. “Usually, they just turn out to be art students or train buffs,” he said.
SEPTA spokeswoman Jerri Williams said members of the public are allowed to photograph subway stops and other portions of the transportation line and regularly do. 
These two people "were brought to our attention, so we’d just be interested in talking to them and learning a bit more about what they were doing,” she said.

Tomorrow marks the 1-year anniversary of the murder of Highway Patrol Sgt. Patrick McDonald.

A series of memorial events will start at noon at Highway Patrol's headquarters, on Erie Avenue near G Street. Police officials said McDonald's family and members of his unit will travel from Erie Avenue to his grave at Resurrection Cemetery in Bensalem, where a moment of silence will be held at 1:47 p.m. -- the moment he died from an array of gunshot wounds.

The memorial will continue with a visit to Colorado Street near Susquehanna Avenue in North Philadelphia, where McDonald had his fatal encounter with career criminal Daniel Giddings. Giddings, who reportedly stood over McDonald and shot him numerous times, was killed during a shoot-out with police later  that day.

Police officials said the procession will stop at the Police Academy for a tree-dedication, then end with a candlelight vigil at Liberty Bell Ball Field, at Red Lion and Calera roads.

The thug who robbed and fatally shot a beloved Southwest Philadelphia grocery store owner on Monday hid his face behind a scarf while he committed the heinous crime, investigators said tonight.
With the exception of that detail, police have had little else to go on as they hunt for the man who gunned down Domingo Rodriguez inside his shop, the Perlata Grocery, said Homicide Sgt. Tim Cooney.
Rodriguez’s wife, who watched the horrifying scene unfold inside the store, was able to provide police only with a general description of the gunman.
She told detectives the shooter was a black man who had on a white T-shirt and brown cloth work gloves, Cooney said.
The store, which Rodriguez opened a few months ago on 66th Street near Guyer Avenue, had no working surveillance camers.
Cooney said the gunman pulled out a silver handgun when he entered the store shortly before 7 p.m. and told Rodriguez, 53, to open a door to a Plexiglas-enclosed area where the shop owner was standing.
Within an instant, he shot Rodriguez in the chest and stole about $2,000 in cash that the owner was carrying in his pocket.
The triggerman turned his attention to the owner’s wife. “He had her open the cash register, which she was unable to do,” Cooney said.
Rodriguez, who has two children, died shortly after at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

A handful of local residents gathered around the crime scene Monday night and lamented over the senseless loss.
“He was a sweet, sweet man. He gave my son two packs of Pokemon cards [on Monday],” said Rosie Mansaray.
She said violent crime has recently gripped the Elmwood neighborhood where she has lived for 10 years. “I’ve had enough,” Mansaray said. “I’m moving out of here, even if I can’t sell my house.”
She added that she sold costume jewelry to Rodriguez, which he in turn sold in his store. She said she frequently warned him against carrying large amounts of cash.
“He always said, ‘Don’t worry, Mommy. I’m not afraid of anyone around here.’ Now look what happened,” Mansaray said.
Rodriguez’s murder was one of four that occurred in the city between Monday and early yesterday.
Arceno Jones, 25, was riddled with four bullets while he sat in a car near 64th and Callowhill streets in West Philadelphia shortly before 11 a.m. Monday.
Shortly thereafter, police apprehended two men who fled the scene in a Dodge Charger. The men, Shirvin McGarrell, 22, and Shay Odom, 20, were charged with Jones’ murder, police said.
Two other cases remain unsolved.
Jose Rivera, 44, was shot multiple times on Norris Street near Lawrence in North Philadelphia at 7:47 p.m. Monday, police said. He died shortly after at Temple University Hospital. A homicide investigator said last night that no suspects or motives have been identified.
At 12:52 a.m. yesterday, police found James Stansbury, 23, bleeding from wounds to his leg and back on Colorado Street near Cumberland. He died at Temple University Hospital about an hour later. Police had no suspects or motives.
Tipsters can contact the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334 or -3335.

A pair of eagle-eyed detectives stopped a veteran scam-artist from victimizing an elderly couple in Northeast Philadelphia earlier today, police said.
Detectives James Arentzem and Margarita Moreno-Nix had been sent to Rhawnhurst because of a recent spate of “gypsy crimes” — cons that are committed by nomadic hustlers who pose as public employees, said Major Crimes Sgt. Joseph Cella.

“Transient criminals don’t hang around much,” Cella said. “By the time most of these crimes are reported, we’re a day late and a dollar short.”
Luck was apparently on the detectives’ side when they parked on Rhawn Street near Frontenac about 1 p.m.
The investigators, both of whom specialize in crimes against the elderly, spotted a man clad in a work uniform, clipboard in hand, with an identification card dangling from his neck.
“They saw him knock on an elderly couple’s door and then go inside. They suspected some criminal activity, so they approached,” Cella said.
The detectives got to the front door just as the con man was about to leave.
“The couple said he claimed to be a Water Department employee who had to check their water. He told them he was going to issue a rebate check,” Cella said.
The scam-artist, who was sporting a crude I.D. that consisted of a small photo pasted onto a card with the words “Identification Card,” was promptly arrested.
The trickster is a 65-year-old man who most recently lived in New Jersey and has a record of pulling cons in other parts of the country.
Police declined to release his name because criminal charges, including trespass and impersonating a public official, had not yet been filed.
The elderly couple told detectives they didn’t believe anything had been stolen from their house.
Normally, this type of scam involves a second person who steals from unsuspecting homeowners while the first person distracts them, Cella noted.
“For all we know, the second person saw our detectives and took off,” he said.

Controversy is once again visiting Colosimo’s gun dealership.

The shop, which was the target of religious protesters earlier this year, was accused tonight by U.S. Attorney Michael Levy of knowingly selling guns to straw purchasers.
Federal investigators determined the gun shop, on Spring Garden Street near 9th, sold a total of 10 firearms to three straw purchasers between Aug. 4, 2004, and April 18, 2007, according to court documents.
The feds say Colosimo’s identified straw purchasers as the actual buyers in transaction records, even though the shop “knew or had reason to believe that each was not the actual buyer, but a straw purchaser,” documents show.
Levy charged Colosimo’s  with making false statements and failing to properly maintain firearms transaction records.
The shop’s owner, James Colosimo, 77, isn’t specifically named in the court documents, but the feds noted the charges can bring a 5-year probation sentence and $200,000 fine.
In January, a dozen people from a clerical group called Heeding God’s Call were arrested after they twice protested inside Colosimo’s.
The protesters said they targeted Colosimo’s because they determined that 22 percent of guns used in area crimes before 2004 were sold by his shop.
Colosimo told a Daily News columnist in January that he hadn’t done anything wrong. The percentage was high, he said, because he had sold hundreds of thousands of weapons during his 57 years in business.

A municipal judge later dismissed charges of disorderly conduct, defiant trespass and related offenses against all of the protesters.
After the ruling, Colosimo fumed: “They’re not guilty? They broke the law.”