Heroin stashed in high-tech equipment sent from Mexico to North Carolina, sheriff says
A package with scientific lab equipment shipped from Mexico to North Carolina raised flags for federal agents, and it turns out the device included a stash of heroin worth more than a million dollars, according to the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office.
Homeland Security agents last week contacted the sheriff’s office in North Carolina about the package, according to a news release.
The shipment hid 1.8 pounds of heroin in white cylinders that appeared to be part of the equipment, the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies and state investigators “made a controlled delivery” to a house in Angier and arrested two men in the sting operation, the sheriff’s office said.
Police arrested Angier Brian Lee Stephenson, 45, for trafficking heroin and conspiracy to traffic, the release said. He is in the Harnett County Detention Center under a $250,000 bond.
They also arrested Rayshone Shone McNeill, 33, of Willow Springs and charged him with conspiracy to traffic heroin. He is being held on a $150,000 bond.
Investigators put the estimated street value of the drugs at $1.6 million.
Harnett County is about 40 miles south of Raleigh.
This story was originally published January 28, 2020 at 8:09 AM with the headline "Heroin stashed in high-tech equipment sent from Mexico to North Carolina, sheriff says."