Drugs in mail deliver man to jail

DELTA — He came to collect a package, but got handcuffs and special delivery to jail instead.

The Seventh Judicial District Meth/Drug Task Force arrested Pedro DeLaRosa, 38, Friday, after he allegedly arrived at a parcel delivery service to pick up a package that contained 20 pounds of marijuana and a half ounce of cocaine.

Agent Jim Fuller said the task force received a tip about a suspicious parcel at the business. Agents arrived there with a dog, which hit on a package they say was addressed to DeLaRosa. The hit was enough for a search warrant and agents discovered the alleged drugs when they opened the parcel.

Investigators then made a series of phone calls to DeLaRosa, who, Fuller alleged, agreed to come down to the delivery service. When he attempted to claim the package, he was arrested without incident.

Odd though it might seem, drugs are frequently trafficked by mail, Fuller said. “It happens all the time. Lots of drugs get imported and distributed that way.”

Fuller said the package sent to DeLaRosa came from Texas and the drugs themselves likely originated in Mexico.

Had the alleged marijuana hit the streets, it could have been sold for between $12,000 and $16,000. The alleged cocaine was valued at around $500.

DeLaRosa was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to distribute marijuana and as a special offender because of prior offenses. Fuller said DeLaRosa was convicted in Texas and Mississippi on drug charges.

Formal charges haven’t yet been filed in Delta County. DeLaRosa was held on a $150,000 bond and is due in court Wednesday.

Fuller said there is a possibility of other, out-of-state suspects.

The task force also announced the unrelated arrest of a Delta woman who Fuller said had methamphetamine stashed throughout her home.

Kit Rynerson, 55, also allegedly had a sawed off shotgun in the house on 1575 Road, Delta County.

Fuller said the task force had been eyeing Rynerson for some time. “We just had kind of a sequence of events we were able to capitalize on,” he said.

Fuller said the task force received citizen tips about Rynerson and, when they spoke to her, she allegedly gave inconsistent statements before reportedly admitting to having narcotics in her home.

That information was enough for the task force to obtain a warrant.

“We had bags throughout her house,” Fuller said. “I think she’d forgotten half the places she’d put them.”

The bags contained both suspected meth and drug residue, he said. Agents additionally found boxes of baggies, scales and other paraphernalia; Fuller said it was “obvious” she was set up to distribute drugs.

In all, the task force reported finding more than 6 grams of suspected meth, a small amount of marijuana, plus an altered 12-gauge shotgun, of which the serial number had been filed off.

Meth can now fetch up to $200 per gram. “We’re seeing a hell of an increase in (the cost of) meth. The costs, as well as cocaine, has shot through the roof,” Fuller said.

He attributed this to war between Mexican drug cartels, as well as action by the Mexican government, which has put troops on its border to stop the outflow of drugs.

Rynerson was charged with felony counts of possession with intent to distribute drugs, possession of a dangerous weapon; a misdemeanor count possession of a defaced firearm, as well as with the petty offenses of possessing less than 1 ounce of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

She was also held on a $150,000 and is due in court Wednesday.