Drug-stuffed animal toys lead to Winona man's conviction

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Photos shared by the United States Department of Justice show drugs recovered by law enforcement and a gun that was found during a search of a suspect's home.  (Supplied)

WINONA, Minn. (FOX 9) - A large amount of meth found hidden inside toy stuffed animals led a jury to convict a man who admitted to buying the drugs and shipping them to himself.

Damien Duwjan Shade, 48, was convicted of possessing a firearm as a felon and attempted possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine after a two-day trial. 

Meth found in stuffed animals 

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The U.S. Attorney's Office said law enforcement became aware of the attempted smuggling when the Rochester Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations responded to the FedEx facility at the Rochester International Airport in March 2023. There, they found three suspicious packages sent from San Diego, California, to two separate addresses in Winona, Minnesota. 

Those packages, according to law enforcement, all came from the same sender, "Trayvon Strange," and were addressed to fake names that did not live at the addresses listed.  

After a drug-detecting K9 alerted to the presence of drugs in the packages, police got a warrant to search them and found six pounds of meth hidden inside stuffed animals. Law enforcement officials say they then placed tracking devices i the packages, removed most of the meth inside, replaced it with rock salt and conducted controlled deliveries of the packages. 

Police then searched the home of the mother of Shade's children and found two of the packages and stuffed animals had been cut open.

READ MORE: Man sentenced for role in stuffed animal fentanyl ring

The U.S. Attorney's Office says Shade confessed to buying meth in California and shipping it to Minnesota using fake names. 

Officers then searched Shade's home and found the third delivery package along with a loaded Comanche III .357 Magnum revolver, which Shade is prohibited from having due to his status as a convicted felon. They also found a digital scale, Ziplock baggies, and a suspected drug ledger. 

Shade reportedly admitted to hiding the drugs in stuffed animals and possessing a firearm illegally. 

Shade was convicted on Sept. 24 and had not yet been sentenced, but the U.S. Attorney's office said he could face life in prison. 

READ MORE: Feds bust Minnesota fentanyl ring moving drugs in stuffed animals

What they're saying:

Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson released the following statement on the conviction:

"Stuffed animals are symbols of childhood, not vessels for poison. Turning a child’s toy into a cover for lethal drugs shows the lengths drug traffickers will go to peddle their poison.  This verdict ensures there will be consequences."