Kenta R. Moore (Photo: Michigan Department of Corrections, 2002)
MUSKEGON COUNTY, Mich (February 27, 2014) — A nearly nine-pound package full of cocaine and marijuana shipped priority mail from Los Angeles to a home in Muskegon has led to federal drug and weapons charges for a convicted felon.
On February 23, a large cardboard box making its way through the Grand Rapids area was spotted and pulled from circulation by a U.S. postal inspector after several irregularities were noticed that could possibly connect the package to drug trafficking.
Investigators say a check on the names listed on the package didn’t match the addresses for either the sender or the recipient.
Later, a narcotics detection dog with the Michigan State Police was brought to the Grand Rapids facility where the package was pulled from circulation. The suspect package was placed with four similar packages in a contained area, and the dog alerted officers to suspicious contents during a search.
A search warrant was obtained on February 24 for the package, and 510 grams of cocaine along with approximately 1 pound 8 ounces of marijuana was found in the package.
The package was resealed ;and taken to its intended destination, a home in the 2800 block of Hoyt Street in Muskegon. A U.S. postal inspector delivered the package using the fake name on the package to a man later identified as Kenta Moore.
Surveillance was conducted at the home until investigators witnessed Moore attempting to leave the residence in a vehicle, which is when Michigan State Troopers and members of the West Michigan Enforcement Team pulled Moore over and a executed a search warrant at the home Moore was in.
Inside, they found the suspect package in a closet along with a .357 revolver underneath a bed mattress, plus ammunition for the gun in the pocket of a child’s coat in a closet.
Federal court documents show Moore later told investigators the gun was his, which he’d purchased for a few hundred dollars about a week earlier from someone on the street. Investigators would later make contact with the Muskegon Police Department, who informed investigators the gun had been stolen.
Online state police records show Kenta Moore was arrested for a felony drug offense on the same date he was taken into custody.
His online criminal record with the Michigan Department of Corrections shows a previous felony conviction for Assault with Intent to do Great Bodily Harm less than Murder, a crime he served more than 10 years behind bars for. He was discharged from prison in August of 2012.
