Bluff couple arrested after mail delivery of marijuana

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff man may face federal drug charges after he received a package of marijuana in the mail this week.

Members of the Poplar Bluff Police Department, SEMO Drug Task Force and U.S. Postal Service executed a search warrant at about 3 p.m. Wednesday on Daniel Dean and Sarah Polansky's residence.

Police set up surveillance and waited for the delivery of the package, said police narcotics detective Kevin Elledge. Once the package was signed for, officers waited until "certain indicators" led them to believe the package had been opened. Then the search warrant was executed.

Dean, 44, was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Polansky, 37, was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia after a "misdemeanor quantity" of suspected marijuana was found in her purse, Elledge said.

Polansky was released pending review of the case by the prosecuting attorney, while Dean was booked at the Butler County jail. He was released Thursday.

Police said the marijuana was in a Tupperware bowl inside the express mail package that Dean had to sign for.

The package had been intercepted by the U.S. Postal Service near St. Louis and was opened under a federal search warrant, Elledge said.

Postal inspectors contacted police chief Danny Whiteley, who coordinated a controlled delivery of the package.

Elledge said crime lab reports on the package will be forwarded to the U.S. Postal Service for possible federal charges.