Five pounds of marijuana found among Sarasota thrift store donations

SARASOTA (FOX13) - Sarasota olice are investigating after nearly five pounds of marijuana was found in a donation box at a thrift store.

Employees uncovered the drugs when they were doing inventory of clothing donations. Authorities are now trying to track down who dropped it off. It's unclear if it was an accident or intentional. As of Friday, Sarasota police said they were trying to locate surveillance video from the thrift store and nearby businesses, hoping it'll lead to the person who dropped it off.

"That's pretty shocking to hear about," Jacueline Aguilera said. "To know it was in the donation box."

"Maybe someone is being vindictive," Bles Mclean said. "It doesn't sound like a prank. I wouldn't know, but it's very shocking."

Employees at the Pines Thrift Store in Sarasota discovered a large plastic white tote outside the doors where donations can be dropped off after-hours. When they opened it Thursday, they found a taped up brown paper bag and called police after finding four bags of pot inside.

How it got there is anyone's guess.

"Somebody probably had a change of heart or something and wanted to turn it in, but didn't want to get themselves in trouble," Mclean said. "So they just probably thought they were doing a good deed in donating it. I guess. I don't know."

According to a police report, one employee first noticed the white tote with the brown bag inside earlier in the week, but didn't open it and put it aside unsure of what was inside. When he opened the bag again, he cut a small hole in the bag and that's when he discovered it was marijuana and called police.

"Either someone lost track of a really big package or someone didn't calculate the numbers right or something," Mclean said. "How it got in the donation box is definitely baffling."

The Pine Thrift Store is part of The Pine Retirement Community and routinely accepts clothing and furniture donations.

According to the police report, employees say the drugs were dropped off sometime between Wednesday and Friday.

The street value of the pot is worth a few thousand dollars.

So far, no arrest have been made.