Kansas postal inspector intercepts 6 pounds of suspected meth mailed to Hutchinson home

A package containing thousands of dollars worth of illegal drugs mailed to a Hutchinson home was intercepted by a U.S. Postal Service inspector in Wichita.

Documents filed in U.S. District Court show the USPS inspector obtained a federal search warrant on a package mailed from North Las Vegas to a home in the 500 block of East Avenue B in Hutchinson. The inspector found about 6 pounds of a crystal-like substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine.

The search warrant was issued on Thursday after a Wichita police dog indicated the package smelled of narcotics. The priority express mail parcel bore $76.50 in postage.

The same day the warrant was issued for the package, the Reno County drug unit executed a separate search warrant on the home.

The Reno County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that officers found 5 pounds of meth and drug paraphernalia at the Hutchinson house. A 46-year-old woman was arrested, and two children were taken into police protective custody. Law enforcement records identify the suspect as Jennie Rebecca Wallace, who is being held in the Reno County Correctional Facility on drug and child endangerment charges.

The 6 pounds of meth in the mail would have an approximate street value of $21,000 to $30,000, and the 5 pounds seized at the house would be worth about $17,500-$25,000, according to Kansas Bureau of Investigation statistics.

A 2018 KBI report — the most recent available — on meth in the state lists the price per pound between $3,500 and $5,000. Despite reduced production in Kansas, the cost of the drug in the state has declined in recent years because of large quantities of low-cost, high-purity meth smuggled across the border from Mexico, the KBI report states.

This story was originally published January 27, 2020 at 6:16 PM.