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Subscribe to RSSWhile unpacking a case of frozen meat, a New Mexico grocery store employee found a loaded gun packed with seven rounds of ammo. KOB's Erica Zucco reports.
A supermarket employee in Roswell, N.M., found an unexpected item in a case of frozen meat this week: a loaded handgun.
The Albertsons worker was unwrapping the meat, which had been shipped from a packing plant in Colorado, when he discovered the firearm, along with seven rounds of ammunition, on Wednesday.
"The big cases of meat come in a box," Sabrina Morales, Roswell Police Department public relations liaison, said. "When he opened it, he saw the firearm. It wasn't packaged inside with the meat, but it was in the same box."
The man brought the Rock Island Armory .38 super semi auto handgun, along with the ammo, into the Roswell Police Department at about 2 p.m. that afternoon, she said.
Where the gun came from is a mystery to police. It was entered into the National Crime Information Center database, but no reports of its being stolen came up.
The supermarket employee wiped it clean before turning it in, making it difficult for police to find any identifying fingerprints.
Adding to officers' challenge: The meat, which was sent to Albertsons from Swift Packing Plant in Greeley, Colo., was packaged more than a year ago.
"The other part that's disturbing is the date on the package was 6.8.2011. I don't know how long meat stays well-frozen, but that was the date of the package he was opening," Morales said.
A call to Swift Packing Plant's corporate office from NBC News was not returned Friday. Roswell police, who did not identify the Albertsons employee, said they have collected all the information they can and have turned the investigation over to Greeley police.
In the meantime, Roswell police are hoping their NCIC database query through the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms may provide some clues, but Roswell Sgt. Jim Preston told New Mexico's KOB.com that the search could take months.
"If it was stolen, we would have thought that by now it would have been entered into the actual database, NCIC, as a stolen firearm," he said. "But we don't have any of that information, and it is something we're looking into."
The gun has made for one of the more memorable cases for the Roswell department.
"You hear of people finding frogs in their salad or weird stuff like that, but never heard of this one," Morales said.
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Leave a Comment:
Could this be some sort of Skyfall promo? One lucky shopper will get a 007 style hand gun in their frozen food?
Found it in the meat and politely wiped it down before giving it to the police. Riiiigght....
"Here officer, I need to also turn in these marijuana ashes that I found in my Sunday newspaper..."
I was wondering where I put that
It is all connected to those little green men the Army found and then denied finding in Roswell in 47.
And the box of meat the gun was found in from 2011, that was from the experiments them little green ba$tard$ been doing on cattle!
Weather Baloon...Pffft....baloney
.38 Super is the gun of choice in Mexico.
And there's reason number two not to buy your meat from this company.
Who cares about the gun!!! I would like to know why meat that is over 1 year old is being sent to an Albertsons!?!?!?!
How true.
The big question in my mind is did Albertson's check the rest of the shipment to see if the other cases were that old.
It could be a murder weapon that someone stashed back out of sight and it got accidentally (or on purpose) shipped.
This has Heizenberg written all over it.
That "meat" might be Jimmy Hoffa.
.. Gee - - - name the politician caught with a home freezer full of money. . . . . . .
If he "found" the gun why would he wipe it clean?
That absolutely disgusting! Meat frozen and packaged over a year ago about to be sold in a grocery store! Where the heck is the FDA on this!?
Hows that gun control working for you libs? They can't even find the owner...
He was in the same box that the gun came in.
Want THIS lib to answer that for you moron who refuses to stay on topic? I have a lovely semi-automatic , KNOW HOW TO USE IT and not shy about NEEDING TO. Anytime!!! Conservative stupid teahad politicians are my FAVOURITE "target" practice when I shoot.
Talk about a "cold piece", this has to be the grand bullmoose. Of course, finding this in the bottom of your box would be better than the prizes we used to get in cereals....
Late development: the box was shipped to the wrong place, was supposed to be going to California State Prison....
Damn the vegans don't stand a chance.
The only weapons in crates of lettuce are bows and arrows.
Ask any tribesmen how effective those are against firearms.
Damn who turn in a free gun, I know he did want to get caught with a murder weapon change the barrel. Stolen maybe, but found in a different state, so i didnt know officer here you can have it then. and last but not least when they come try to take the guns from american citizens that one not registered to you so they wont know its there hidden!just saying
And this post, ladies and gentlemen, is a perfect example of why not everyone should be permitted to own guns.
Roswell? Alien connection.
Instead of a meat packing plant it was pistol packing !!
Who ever turned the gun in was a friggin idot to wipe the gun clean, no finger prints now.
To completely remove all prints wouldn't you have to eject & clean the magazine????
yes!
Wonder if the Cow had a permit to carry?
lol
Wow! Some notable failures here:
“The man brought the Rock Island Armory .38
super semi auto handgun, along with the ammo, into the Roswell Police
Department” – Never bring a gun to the station. Call the police out to you. You
may have a crime scene or evidence.
“The supermarket employee wiped it clean
before turning it in” – If there was any prints or identifying marks, they just
got destroyed…. I mean really!?!?! Are people really this dumb??????
“The meat, which was sent to Albertsons
from Swift Packing Plant in Greeley, Colo., was packaged more than a year ago.”
– Good ole mass market products. Where fresh means at least a year old!
The real question is, WHY are they selling meat of all things that have been in the freezer for over a year? WOW, This company needs to be investigated
hey! is that my gun? i lost one just like it while screwing a cow.
Looks like I already see a lot of comments. What half intelligent person would wipe a gun clean BEFORE turning over to law enforcement? So what if it had frost or blood or whatever. That's just not using common sense. I detect there's a little bit more to this story. Then again, maybe aliens don't have fingerprints anyway.
A price in every carcass, just like Cracker Jack.