JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville Uber driver was picking up a delivery when she discovered suspected pure crystal meth in the package then called the police to report it.
The woman, who wished not to be identified, had just started doing Uber package deliveries. She was riding with her friend Thursday night when a request came in to pick up a board game from a Westside home and deliver it in St. Augustine.
“An older lady walks out, middle-aged and she walks up with a yellow game in her hand. She says, ‘Hi, are you the delivery people? I said, ‘Yes, you’re my first person.; This is exciting and she hands me a game,” the Uber driver said.
The game was supposedly going to another woman in St. Augustine who likes board games. But 15 miles into their journey, the driver got an alert on her phone telling her the delivery request was canceled.
The cancellation cleared the delivery address on her screen. and the women felt there was something suspicious about the board game box.
“We actually smelled something and didn’t know what it was. I would describe it as a gross chemical,” the friend said. “We were like what do we do? We have a random package in our car. We don’t know what we are driving around with. So, we pulled over and we opened it.”
This is when the women discovered an ounce of suspected pure crystal meth hidden inside a compartment of the board game. While waiting for police to arrive to take possession of the drugs, the women were in fear for their lives because the Uber app disclosed the location of its drivers.
“The people who knew I had their drugs, knew where I was at, and it started to get a little scary. At one point, I actually ducked down in the car because I became paranoid that everyone pulling in was someone to get me,” the driver said.
The driver says Uber could avoid these incidents by verifying the people who request pick-ups and deliveries.
“When I picked up this package, I didn’t have to verify this lady. And when I dropped it off, according to Uber, I didn’t have to verify her. Only confirm the delivery. This could happen to anybody at any time because Uber has no safety measures with the packages. You could send anything. You could send drugs,” the driver said.
The driver said this incident has left her fearful for her life, so she is considering quitting her job and finding another place to work.
We reached out to Uber to get a statement on their pick-up and delivery policies. It responded, “The safety of drivers and delivery people is a top priority at Uber. Using Uber for illegal activity is expressly prohibited, and we have removed the user’s access to the platform. We have a global investigations team that aims to identify suspected crime on the platform, take action against accounts connected to illegal activity, and work with law enforcement on their investigations.”