Clemmons investigated by drug enforcement authorities after he moved here in 2004

Maurice Clemmons, the man who killed four Lakewood police officers on Sunday, was the subject of at least one investigation by drug enforcement authorities since he moved to Washington state in 2004.

Beginning in September 2005, the U.S. Postal Inspector Service investigated Clemmons for a case involving shipments of marijuana between Seattle and South Dakota, said Jerry Styers, a spokesman for the postal inspector's office in Seattle.

The investigation began in South Dakota, where workers for the U.S. Postal Service and United Parcel Service noticed suspicious packages being sent between several men in South Dakota and Clemmons' home in Federal Way.

Clemmons had moved to Washington in 2004 after being paroled on aggravated robbery and theft charges in Arkansas.

Styers said Clemmons appeared to be shipping marijuana out of Seattle, and receiving shipments of cash from South Dakota. One shipment seized in South Dakota contained $5,500 in cash, and Styers said investigators knew of several shipments.

At least one man in South Dakota was charged as a result of the Postal Service investigation, but Styers said he could not release the man's name.

Clemmons was not charged. In March 2007, postal inspectors shipped their files to a drug task force in Seattle after learning that the task force, headed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, had already been investigating Clemmons.

It is unclear what came of that investigation; Clemmons was not charged. Jodie Underwood, a DEA spokeswoman, said her agency cannot confirm any previous or ongoing investigation.

The Washington Department of Corrections, which was supervising Clemmons during the investigations, was alerted to the Postal Service probe in October 2005.

An Auburn Police detective working with the Postal Service told Clemmons' DOC officer that Clemmons was under investigation for drug trafficking in the mail, but told the DOC officer to keep it a secret, according to DOC records released this week.

Jonathan Martin: 206-464-2605 or jmartin@seattletimes.com