A police dog’s alert at a UPS sorting facility in Minneapolis led investigators to two arrests, the seizure of about 23lb of suspected cocaine and the discovery of three firearms, including two fitted with machine-gun conversion devices, in a Columbia Heights flat.
The investigation began on 10 September when a narcotics detective from the Metropolitan Airports Commission Police Department identified two parcels as suspicious during checks for illegal drugs.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Anoka County, the department’s certified detection dog, Goldy, was directed to search the packages. The dog showed no reaction to numerous parcels before alerting officers to the two consignments.
Columbia Heights cocaine investigation
Detectives obtained a search warrant and opened the packages at the Airport Police Department’s criminal investigations office. The complaint alleges that each parcel contained a concealed box packed beneath spray foam, vacuum-sealed bags, dryer sheets and other wrapping.
One package contained about 11.745lb of suspected cocaine and the other about 11.385lb, giving a combined weight of roughly 23.13lb. Both substances allegedly tested positive for cocaine.
The parcels had been sent from the same address in La Mesa, California, although they carried different names and delivery addresses. One was bound for an address in Minneapolis, while the other was addressed to an apartment in a multi-unit building on Gould Avenue in Columbia Heights.
Investigators replaced most of the suspected cocaine with a representative sample before arranging an undercover delivery, the complaint states. At about 1.06pm, officers left the package in the building’s first-floor mailroom.
Hamza Ali Salah, 23, of San Diego, was arrested after arriving shortly afterwards and collecting the parcel, according to the charges. Goldy was then taken to the fifth floor, where the dog reportedly ignored several doors before alerting at Apartment 557.
Officers searched the flat at about 5.45pm and arrested Nabil Ali Salah, the complaint alleges.
In one bedroom, detectives reportedly found a Glock 17 fitted with a machine-gun conversion device, an extended 30-round magazine containing 25 rounds of 9mm ammunition and Nabil’s US passport.
A second room allegedly contained an AK-47-style firearm with a loaded magazine holding 25 rounds of 7.62 ammunition, a Glock 19 fitted with another conversion device and an extended magazine loaded with 19 rounds of 9mm ammunition. Officers also reported finding Hamza’s passport card and a large amount of cash.
The allegations are contained in a criminal complaint and have not been tested in court. Both men are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
