When you order a used book online, you probably wouldn’t be surprised if when it arrives, it contains an old bookmark or perhaps a couple of pages of notes inside. After all, it is “used.” But I’m sure you would be a little shocked if you opened the book and a bag of coke fell out.
According to WPTV Kansas, that’s what happened to Sophia Stockton, a junior at Mid-America Nazarene University in Olathe.
Apparently, Stockton purchased the book through Amazon’s Warehouse Deals program, where shoppers can “get deep discounts on open-box, like-new, refurbished, or used products that are in good condition but do not meet Amazon.com’s rigorous standards as ‘new.'” When she opened it up and a baggie of white powder fell out, she initially thought it might be anthrax.
Ironically enough, the textbook that contained the cocaine was called “Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues.”
She notified the local police department, who ran an analysis on the substance:
Warehouse Deals was created by Amazon to easily move products that aren’t quite showroom quality. It functions like any other “Fulfilled by Amazon” merchant. Amazon specifically says that items that come through Warehouse Deals are inspected carefully:
Prior to offering an item for sale on Warehouse Deals, we verify physical and functional condition.
Amazon says that any product that customers find unsatisfactory can be returned within 30 days for a full refund. I doubt Miss Stockton is unsatisfied with her textbook once she found out it wasn’t full of a biological warfare agent.
She told GardnerEdge: “I have ordered many times from Amazon and this is the first time I’ve seen anything like this. I don’t think that Amazon is at fault in this case. They can’t check every book that goes through their warehouse. I’m guessing that it (the cocaine) was just left in there by the previous owner of the book.”
Or some inspector is really bummed out. I wonder, how many other college students would have called the police?