Island cops assist in drug bust in Southampton: Two-kilo package addressed to Island resident

Shelter Island Police officers, along with Southampton Police officers coordinating with U.S. Homeland Security agents, arrested a Colorado man Friday morning in Southampton and charged him with possession of 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of a controlled substance.

Police say Justin R. Parker, 36, of Pueblo was taken into custody for the possession of dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a hallucinogenic drug listed by state and federal statutes as a controlled substance.

Mr. Parker was taken to Southampton Police Department headquarters Friday at about 11 a.m. where he was processed and held. After arraignment, Mr. Parker was remanded to the Suffolk County Correctional Facility pending further court action, police said.

The investigation into the alleged crime was triggered by an internationally sent package addressed to a Shelter Island resident. The package was intercepted by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection at Miami International Airport. Police said the investigation revealed that Mr. Parker was “the intended end recipient of the illegal substance … arrangements were made with Mr. Parker, who flew from Colorado to New Jersey, and later drove out to the Sag Harbor area.”

After Mr. Parker took possession of the package at a predetermined Southampton location, he was arrested and charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the 2nd degree, a class A II felony.