| Photo: William Kaempffer/New Haven Register |
| The Connecticut State Police — that bunch of Scrooges — spoiled Christmas by going ahead and opening the gifts. |
A cross-country, 100-pound marijuana shipment — wrapped up to look like Christmas presents, complete with bows — arrived at a well-kept Cape Cod house in New Haven, Connecticut Wednesday morning. But Scrooge’s minions, the cops, were there, too.
State police executed a search warrant at 621 Townsend Avenue for the entire morning and into the afternoon, reports William Kaempffer of the New Haven Register.
A 29-year-old self-employed musician, Julio Ramos, admitted to police that he was the intended recipient of the gift-wrapped marijuana, police said.
In court Thursday, a judge reduced the bail to $100,000 for Ramos after he spent the night in jail in lieu of $750,000 bail. Ramos said nothing during his brief arraignment in Superior Court.
His attorney, Vito Castignoli, noted that his client had no criminal record.
The police seized 110 pounds of marijuana in 10 packages shaped like Christmas presents, according to a report from the Statewide Narcotics Task Force, and also seized $22,500 in cash during the Wednesday raid.
The shipment originated in California, according to police, who learned about it and were waiting for its arrival on Townsend Avenue.
Narcotics officers also executed a second warrant at Ramos’s other address in Guilford, Conn., and found 221 grams of marijuana and $1,250.
Ramos faces a variety of marijuana charges.
| Photo: Peter Casolino/New Haven Register |
| New Haven Police Sgt. Vin Anastio, left, and officer Dave Murgo transport one of two men at 621 Townsend Avenue, where the two were arrested with more than 100 pounds of marijuana. |
