DOCUMENT: Fail, Funny, Crime

Cops Seek Melon Felons

Attempt to smuggle drugs into jail inside cantaloupe foiled

cantaloupe

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Cops Seek Melon Felons

FEBRUARY 3--An attempt to smuggle contraband into a Washington jail failed this week when law enforcement officials discovered Oxycodone pills and tobacco hidden inside a hollowed-out cantaloupe.

The melon was included among surplus food items that were intended for use at the Chelan County Regional Justice Center (the cantaloupe had been left at a drop-off point by two unidentified young female donors). Jailers quickly alerted to the cantaloupe, which appeared to have been cut open at its top.

As seen in these police evidence photos, the fruit was found to contain a dozen tobacco packets, rolling paper, loose tobacco, and several pills of Oxycodone, the powerful painkiller. Wenatchee Police Department investigators are probing the bid to smuggle the items into the jail, which houses about 300 inmates and is a tobacco-free institution. (4 pages)