The Associated Press
CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) - The packages were labeled toys for good girls and boys and the business was called Santa’s Helpers, but authorities say the packages were part of a drug smuggling operation.
Santa’s Helpers attempted to smuggle $7.8 million worth of cocaine from Los Angeles to nearby Willoughby, authorities say.
Drug agents seized about 175 pounds of the drug Monday in the largest seizure in Cleveland this year and one of the largest in northeast Ohio.
Investigators believe the venture was designed to avoid detection. Four 55-gallon steel drums used as shipping containers raised suspicions.
Federal prosecutors charged Edward Boynton, 35, of Inglewood, Calif., with intent to possess cocaine. Boynton appeared in U.S. District Court on Tuesday. His attorney, Mary Jo Tipping, had no comment.
Authorities say Willoughby police learned Friday of suspicious packages at the Roadway Express offices. Billing information said the barrels contained toys, novelties and games.
Officers brought in a police dog, which picked up the scent of drugs. Officers confiscated the drums and called the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Authorities say Boynton drove a rented truck to the business on Monday. He wore a coat and a T-shirt with the logo “Santa’s Helpers” and had paperwork and tracking information for the shipment.
Boynton told authorities that he had flown from Los Angeles to Cleveland to meet the shipment.
Willoughby police stopped him as he left the business. According to investigators and an affidavit, two of the drums were filled with concrete blocks and the others held the drugs.
A spokeswoman for Roadway Express in Akron, where the company is based, declined comment.
Boynton is being held without bond pending additional hearings Monday.