Parcels packed with pot arrive at South St. shop

Employees at a popular South Street store were scratching their heads over a special delivery Saturday morning.

Police were called to the Fusion jeans boutique, on South Street near 4th, after employees received not one but two packages of marijuana, with a total of 20 pounds of weed.

"Officers received a call that the manager of the store had received a package from FedEx and when he opened it there was a five-gallon bucket inside," said Capt. Chris Werner of Narcotics Field Unit 2.

"We don't usually get Saturday deliveries, so right away we thought something was up," said another manager who was working at the time of the delivery but asked that she not be identified.

She said when employees opened the package, they found the bucket inside.

Werner said that when the manager opened the bucket, it was filled to the brim with pot.

The second package arrived about an hour later - this time from a different delivery service - but with similar contents.

"We didn't even bother to open up the second one. We just waited for the police to come," the manager said.

Both packages were from California and were addressed to the store. Police said no names were on the address label, only an attention-to a manager.

"Each bucket had about 10 pounds of marijuana in it," Werner said.

With about 20 pounds total, and a street value of about $4,500 per pound, this special delivery was worth about $90,000, Werner said.

"It was obviously intended for someone in the Philadelphia area," Werner said. "We are trying to find out who."

The manager said employees were discussing lots of theories but no one really knew why their store received the illegal drugs.

"Maybe somebody was trying to get it delivered there so they could pick it up before we got there," she said.

"I don't know, though. It's just crazy." *