Springfield man pleads not guilty of hiding narcotics in Play-Doh

UPDATE @ 2:48 p.m.

Jason Rager appeared in the Clark County Municipal Court Wednesday morning where he pleaded not guilty and bond was set at $10,000.

EARLIER REPORT

A 30-year-old Springfield man is to be in court Wednesday on felony charges accusing him of mailing narcotics -- hidden inside a Play-Doh set — to someone in Asheville, North Carolina.

Jason Rager, of Willow Road, remains in the Clark County Jail after sheriff's deputies arrested him Monday evening.

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According to a statement the sheriff's office released Tuesday evening, a supervisor from Box King, on North Bechtle Avenue, called the sheriff's office Monday afternoon to report a suspicious package that was being mailed to Asheville, N.C.

Sheriff's investigators inspected the package, wrapped in brown paper, and found 70 Hydrocodone tablets hidden in the canisters of the children’s toy, sheriff's Maj. Christopher Clark said.

Deputies here contacted narcotics officers in Asheville, who identified the recipient of the package. They picked him up Tuesday morning for questioning, Clark said, but there has been no word whether the man has been detained on charges.

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Asheville police ascertained that Rager was the person who mailed the drugs. Clark County detectives contacted Rager at his residence and arrested him on single counts of drug trafficking the drug possession.

"We do not believe this is the first time he's done it," Clark said, when asked whether detectives think Rager has mailed narcotics -- hidden in toys or not -- to western North Carolina or other locales.

Clark said the tablets sell on the street for about $5 to $7 apiece, which makes the amount confiscated worth about $350.

Rager is to make his initial appearance in Springfield Municipal Court on Wednesday morning, according to the sheriff's office.

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