Instead of recovering around two pounds of marijuana he left behind in an Uber, an Allegheny County man found himself under arrest in North Huntingdon when an undercover state trooper posed as the driver of the ride-sharing service.
State police on Wednesday arrested Malik Rasaan Mollett, 21, of Wilkinsburg, after setting up a meeting at a McDonald’s restaurant on Route 30 to supposedly return the drugs, according to court documents.
Mollett contacted Uber on Dec. 28, allegedly trying to get in touch with a driver after he reportedly left the package in his car on accident, state police in Greensburg reported.
The Uber driver contacted state police on Jan. 2, turning over a black Jimmy Jazz shopping bag filled with two vacuumed-sealed packages of suspected marijuana, marked with “GG4.” He also provided the cell phone number of the rider, state police reported.
Lab tests confirmed the substance to be marijuana, state police said.
Investigators traced the cell number to Mollett and then called him, pretending to be the Uber driver and arranging for him to meet and pick up the bag.
When Mollett arrived at the McDonald’s and identified the bag as belonging to him, troopers placed him under arrest, according to court documents.
Mollett is charged with manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of a controlled substance.
He is being held in the Westmoreland County Jail on $150,000 cash bail. A preliminary hearing before District Judge Wayne Gongaware is scheduled for Jan. 30.
Jacob Tierney is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jacob at 724-836-6646, jtierney@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Soolseem.
