WATERVILLE — Inspectors at the local post office who suspected a package contained illegal drugs were right.

They found seven pounds of marijuana Wednesday inside a package mailed to Rajesh R. Ramharak, 31, of 84 Front St., police Chief Joseph Massey said Thursday.

Ramharak was summoned Thursday for trafficking in marijuana, a class C felony, he said.

The marijuana sells for between $1,800 and $2,000 a pound on the street, he said.

A Maine State Trooper with a drug-sniffing dog confirmed the suspicions after the pair was brought in by patrol Officer Duane Cloutier, who met with postal inspectors at the post office on College Avenue early Wednesday, Massey said. Cloutier is assigned full time to the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.

“They opened the package that was tightly wrapped in plastic Saran wrap — layers of it — and between the layers there was what they believed to be mustard,” he said.

The mustard may have been placed there in an attempt to mask the odor of marijuana, according to Massey.

“When they opened it, they found seven individually wrapped baggies that contained marijuana, so there were seven pounds. Each one was about a pound,” he said.

Postal inspectors held the package until Ramharak called asking if it had arrived and was told it had, according to Massey.

When Ramharak picked up the package, officers confronted him in the parking lot and seized the package, he said. He was summoned the next morning at his home, because there were children in his car and police knew where he lived, Massey said.

He is scheduled to appear in Kennebec County Superior Court in Augusta at 8:30 a.m. June 12.

Massey said the marijuana came from out of state and that it is too early to say whether there will be more arrests made in the case.

Massey said police are barraged by an influx of drugs and the different ways people acquire them.

“It just becomes overwhelming sometimes to try to keep a handle on the amount of drugs that come into the city and that are used for illegal purposes,” he said.

“We’re ever vigilant. We keep about two full time folks just doing drug work and I could use five.”

The state drug agency reimburses Waterville police for Cloutier’s wages, according to Massey.

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com