It was not the usual type of trick or treat. A Union City man and a Fairburn man were charged Oct. 31 with trafficking in marijuana in a controlled-delivery drug bust in Grantville netting $70,000 in suspected marijuana.

Caesar Hernandez Aguileria, 22, of Union City, and Armando Mendoza Carranza, 22, of Fairburn, were charged with trafficking in marijuana, according to Grantville Police Chief Franklin Allen. Aguileria was also charged with giving false information, Allen said.

Grantville Police received information from a concerned citizen that a package had been dropped by a UPS delivery truck at a vacant house and later picked up by a Hispanic male, Allen said Wednesday. UPS was contacted, Allen said, and researched the delivery and its point of origin. Subsequently, a second package was on route for delivery to a different address when the UPS driver was approached by two Hispanic males wanting to pick up the package. Having the appropriate identification, the driver gave the package to the men, said Allen.

The alert driver noted that the second package had the same Mission, Texas, shipping address as the package delivered earlier to the residence, said Allen. Working in conjunction with UPS, Grantville Police were notified Oct. 30 that a third package was scheduled for delivery. Following company policy on inspecting suspicious packages, UPS alerted police when the contents of the third package were found to contain a product and packaging consistent with a suspect substance, Allen said.

On Oct. 31, a search warrant for the package was obtained and the driver loaded the package onto the delivery truck, said Allen. At approximately 5:15 p.m., the driver was approached along the route by Aguileria and Carranza, asking to take possession of the package.

Once in their possession, their vehicle was stopped by police. A search of the trunk revealed the package containing 35 pounds of suspected marijuana in tightly wrapped plastic, Allen said. The street value of the suspected marijuana was $70,000, he added.

Aguileria and Carranza are being held without bond in Coweta County Jail.

“It’s my theory that they picked Grantville because we are a small town with a small police force,” Allen said. “I think they scouted us out for a vacant rental property for potential drop-off locations.”

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