Cops: Health Care Worker Had Pot Shipped in Patients’ Names

An employee of a Long Beach health care facility was arrested on Wednesday after police said he had about 15 pounds of marijuana shipped to unsuspecting elderly patients at the building.

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According to the Long Beach Police Department, the case involved two large shipments of marijuana sent to two patients of the health care facility, which was not named in a LBPD press release about the incident. Michael Gonzalez, 49, of Howard Beach was arrested and charged with first-degree criminal possession of marijuana, a felony, for shipment and storage of the drug.    

“These patients were completely unaware that their names were being used to have these packages sent,” the LBPD stated in the release. “When the packages arrived the defendant, an employee of the facility, retrieved them and then hid the packages in a storage area.”

Police said Gonzalez’s arrest was the result of a joint undercover operation between the LBPD’s detective division and the United States Postal Inspectors, and detectives were able to recover about 15 pounds of marijuana from the facility.  

Det. Lt. Stefan Chernaski, the commanding officer of the LBPD detective division who supervised the operation, said this type of scheme is common throughout the United States.

“The marihuana is wrapped in a certain way to attempt to avoid detection and the listed addressee is usually completely unaware that a package was shipped in their name,” Chernaksi stated. “This particular case was more egregious because a health care facility and two unsuspecting elderly people were used.”

LBPD Commissioner Michael Tangney said that these cases emerge quickly and involve a brief window of opportunity for police to act.

“Our detectives, including the Narcotics Task Force, mobilized quickly to work with the Postal Inspectors,” Tangney stated. “They put together a somewhat complex undercover investigation very quickly and recovered about 15 pounds of marihuana and made the arrest. It was top notch police work.”

According to police, the facility’s management and staff were “extremely cooperative” with the investigation and sought to maintain the protection of the patients.

The LBPD told Patch the name and location of the facility is being withheld to protect the identity of the patients involved in the case. The public information officer at the U.S. Postal Inspection Service was unavailable for comment on Wednesday afternoon. 

Gonzalez will be arraigned at 2 p.m. in Long Beach City Court on April 10. The investigation is ongoing.

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