Nearly 10 pounds of marijuana hidden in an air tank was seized Thursday in Roanoke Rapids following a tip from postal inspectors.

Lieutenant Chuck Hasty of the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office said inspectors in Raleigh discovered there was marijuana in a package mailed from Santa Rosa, Texas. Inspectors discovered the contraband through their dogs.

With help from the Roanoke Rapids Police Department and the state Department of Correction canine unit, officers set up a sting operation, keeping surveillance on a house at Tanner Street.

When the package was signed for, officers converged and Amos Crocker Johnson Jr., 27, of Gaston and Brennon Lamar Banks, 19, of Richmond, Virginia, allegedly threw the package over a fence in the woods.

Officers recovered the package and discovered an air compressor with three bags of marijuana stored inside it.

Agent Anzell Harris charged the men with felony possession of marijuana and possession with intent to manufacture, sell and deliver marijuana. Both were jailed on $5,000 bonds and have May 5 court dates.

Hasty said the case remains under investigation, including tracing the source of the marijuana, which was valued at approximately $20,000.

“The cooperation of all the departments helped with the arrest of the two individuals,” Hasty said.