GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) _ Drug task force officials in Gainesville say high-grade marijuana is being smuggled into the area in plain sight, by package-delivery trucks.
The Gainesville Sun (http://bit.ly/PT6ISd ) reports dealers are increasingly using the U.S. Postal Service and commercial mail carriers to move their pot across the country and region.
So far this year, the Gainesville-Alachua County Drug Task Force has intercepted 36 mailed marijuana packages, up from five in 2010 and 13 in 2011.
Investigators have found pot hidden in furniture, such as footstools, and in sealed cans.
The most common way to send pot is in vacuum-sealed freezer bags.
Packages containing illegal drugs are identified through special investigative techniques, which include the use of drug-sniffing dogs and tips from confidential informants.
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