An owner of an Airbnb property should likely expect the occasional mess or minor damage, but not having a property transformed into a drug drop-off.

That was the case for at least two properties in Greenville County, S.C. when entrepreneurial criminal types booked the properties overnight through Airbnb and then had weed delivered to the waiting “guests”, according to the Greenville County Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU).

But the police were on alert, having learned earlier about a weed shipment to a number of sites in the county. They staked out two rental properties and intercepted 22 pounds of cannabis from California that were contained in two separate parcels. Twelve pounds of weed was intercepted at one property and 10 pounds at the other, combining for a street value of an estimated US$90,000.

“The owners of the rental homes had no idea their residences were being used as a drug drop location,” said Bart McEntire, commander of Greenville County Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit, according to WMBF News. “It is not an uncommon tactic of the drug world to take advantage of unsuspecting home owners to conceal their illicit activity,” McEntire noted.

Police believe the two people receiving the cannabis had accepted prior weed shipments.

Kelby Joshua Darnell McKinney, 26, and Ana Lashae LeGrand, 25, were arrested, WMBF News reports.

Greenville is a popular spot for importing cannabis, McEntire told the TV station, explaining that pipelines of illegal distribution have opened up in line with decriminalization of weed in western portions of the U.S.

And California seems to be a popular source of the cannabis. “Marijuana shipments from California to Greenville have exploded,” Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis suggested to WMBF News.

Of particular concern are THC-infused products that look like candy, Lewis reportedly said, citing a recent shipment of gummy bears that bore the name of a well-recognized gummy brand.

Want to keep up to date on what’s happening in the world of cannabis? Subscribe to the Cannabis Post newsletter for weekly insights into the industry, what insiders will be talking about and content from across the Postmedia Network.