St. Peters Woman Had 12-Year-Old Brother Receive Pot Delivery, Police Say

A 19-year-old St. Peters woman is accused of having her 12-year-old brother receive a package containing 15 pounds of marijuana, according to a St. Charles County Drug Task Force report.

Alana Howell, 19, of the 3900 block of Jaq-Mar Court in St. Peters, was charged Tuesday with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of drug-related items.

Drug Task Force detectives said Howell was paid $500 to receive a package. Howell told deputies she and her boyfriend, Joseph Zair-Hanks, were to take the package to an unidentified third party, who would sell the marijuana.

Detectives said Howell’s younger brother was to accept the package and call her on her cell phone once he got the package.

The investigation led to Howell’s boyfriend’s address in the 1800 block of Peach Street in St. Peters, where Howell occasionally lives with Zair-Hanks, detectives said.

Task Force members found syringes and spoons used to cook heroin. Detectives said Howell admitted she is a heroin addict.

Zair-Hanks is on probation after being found guilty in 2011 of distributing a controlled substance.

Howell was being held in St. Charles County jail on Wednesday. Bail was set at $75,000.

For more crime information on St. Peters Patch, see the following articles:

• Updated: Police: Teen Had 5-Foot-Tall Marijuana Plants Growing in His Room
• Woman Charged With Growing Marijuana Near Elementary School