The bricks of cocaine were wrapped in duct tape, scented with fabric softener to fool drug dogs and hidden inside a record player in an innocuous box at a Denver Greyhound station.
Police in two states had scrambled to get the package to the right spot at the right time, setting a trap for whoever came to retrieve it.
When Raymond Johnson, 43, walked through an employee entrance to pick up what he said was a box of clothes and toys from his aunt, police arrested him, according to a search-warrant affidavit.
Johnson, charged with two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, is set to appear in court this week.
In all, police found 3 kilograms of cocaine, almost 7 pounds, worth at least $60,000, in the box, but they may have interrupted a larger operation. A witness at the Greyhound station said he saw Johnson regularly pick up packages from Los Angeles, police reports stated.
“There is additional investigative work around where it (the drug package) came from and where it was headed, but those wouldn’t be details we can release at this point,” said Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver district attorney’s office.
Johnson told police he had collected a box from his aunt only once before, about four years ago, according to a May search-warrant affidavit.
Court records show that Johnson, who has used at least a dozen aliases, was arrested for possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell in 2008, but prosecutors declined to file charges. Before that, he spent 18 months in jail for perjury.
Gary Lozow, his defense attorney, said there are legal and factual issues yet to be addressed.
“He’s entitled to the presumption of innocence just like everyone else,” Lozow said.
Johnson remains free on a $10,000 bond.
The bust was set in motion at a Los Angeles Greyhound station where, on Feb. 3, an employee noticed a seemingly nervous woman put a package on a Denver-bound bus just before it left the station.
The employee retrieved the 2-foot-by-2-foot box and found two stuffed animals, a small plastic guitar and the record player, according to the affidavit.
At the sight of three bricks wrapped in duct tape, the Greyhound employee called a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy, who called the Denver Police Department.
They would have to act fast.
“Whoever was expecting the delivery of the narcotics in Denver would suspect law enforcement involvement if there were any deviation in the timetable of the delivery of the package,” Detective Jamie Akens wrote in the affidavit. “The box had to arrive in Denver close to the time the Greyhound bus was scheduled to arrive.”
The box was shipped overnight via FedEx and by the next morning was sitting in the package- pickup area at the bus station under the watchful eyes of Denver detectives.
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com
