Arlington mother, son shipped meth across the country through the mail, officials say

An Arlington mother and son are accused of running a year-long operation where they sold thousands of packages of methamphetamine over the dark web and shipped them through the U.S. mail.

The two are facing a combined 18 years in prison, officials announced.

Mary Jane McIntyre, 61, was sentenced to 72 months on Thursday, after she pleaded guilty in December 2020 to possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, according to a news release from Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah of the Northern District of Texas. Her 29-year-old son, Sean Alexander Harris, was handed down a sentence of 144 months last month, the release states. He pleaded guilty in December to what was described as a “similar charge.”

Officials didn’t say what that charge was. But in plea papers, officials said, Harris confessed to selling drugs over the dark web to buyers across the country.

The mother-son duo allegedly shipped more than 8,400 packages containing meth, and more than 75 pounds of the narcotic, between October 2019 and October 2020, according to the release. They purported to be from a company that didn’t exist.

The North Texas Parcel Task Force was alerted to the operation in March 2020, when it intercepted a package through the U.S. mail that was thought to originate from a dark web drug dealer, officials said. The stamp featured a label for a fictitious company called Forever Stylist Inc., apparently based in Lewisville. Investigators determined the package contained several grams of a substance that tested positive for meth.

They connected the package to Harris, and later saw him dropping parcels of narcotics at locations throughout the DFW metroplex, according to the release. They also saw his mother on post office surveillance mailing packages for Harris, the release states.

Thomas Noyes, the U.S. Postal Service inspector who leads the Fort Worth division, said in the release the sentencing of the mother and son “should serve as a reminder to other perpetrators engaged in this type of criminal activity that we will ensure they are brought to justice.”

“Suspects mistakenly believe they can remain hidden in the shadows of the dark web,” Noyes said. “Postal Inspectors’ objectives are to rid the mail of illicit drug trafficking, preserve the integrity of the mail and, most importantly, provide a safe environment for postal employees and the American public.”

The investigation, Noyes said, was a collaboration between Shah’s office, the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General and the DEA.