Police allege marijuana in mail

A rural Netawaka resident was arrested Tuesday on felony drug charges after reportedly picking up a shipment believed to be containing marijuana at the Whiting post office, according to Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse.

Johnny Lee Williams, 54, has been charged with felony possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, Morse said in a press release issued Tuesday night. Williams is currently in custody at the Jackson County Detention Center, and bond on Williams is pending.

Morse said that a package believed to contain about four pounds of marijuana had been shipped from California to the Whiting post office. After being alerted to the package, Jackson County deputies observed Williams picking up the package at the post office and leaving as a passenger in a white 1996 Ford Ranger that headed west on Kansas Highway 9.

County authorities stopped the Ranger and arrested Williams, who is “alleged to have distributed marijuana from shipments he had been receiving from California,” Morse said. Jackson County and Brown County authorities also served a search warrant on Williams’ residence in southern Brown County in connection with the case later that evening.

The driver of the Ranger, who has not been identified, was released at the scene of Williams’ arrest, Morse said. The case remains under investigation, he added.