An Ohio man deposits the wrong thing in the bank. His mistake landed him in jail

An Ohio man is in jail after sending something illegal through the pneumatic tube — or the air tube — at a local bank drive-thru by mistake. No one was hurt, but as the internet noted, it could have turned out much worse.

According to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, on December 3, 2025, deputies responded to a bank in Woodsfield, Ohio, about 127 miles southeast of Columbus, after a routine drive-thru transaction took a bizarre turn. What arrived via pneumatic tube was not a deposit slip or cash, but a small baggie containing a “crystal-like substance consistent with methamphetamine,” and that’s what it was.

Investigators later determined the unexpected package was sent in error by 46-year-old Jason G. Smith during what should have been an ordinary banking transaction.

Drugs “don’t belong in bank drive-thrus”

According to the local sheriff’s office, authorities, including officers from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, located Smith later that day in nearby Wayne Township. With help from a police dog named Max, deputies searched Smith’s truck, seizing additional suspected drugs and drug-related items.

Officers arrested Smith and booked him at the Monroe County Jail. Charges related to the case have not yet been publicly detailed.

In a post about the arrest, the sheriff’s office noted, “Illegal drugs don’t belong in bank drive-thrus — but they can be turned in at the Sheriff’s Office. No charges, no handcuffs, just help. We’d much rather safely take them off the street than see another unexpected ‘deposit.’”

” … deposited his check and his drugs”

Unsurprisingly, the oddball incident sparked reaction and ridicule on social media. One user quipped, “I bet he was mad as hell, deposited his check and his drugs. Lmfao can you imagine the frantic search that ensued when he was looking for them?”

Another added, “When you dont know your money from your drugs it’s time to rethink your life.”

The strange situation could have ended worse, as another comment noted. “Really glad it wasn’t fentanyl! Just touching the bag could take a person down,” it said, especially carfentanil, an ultra-potent synthetic opioid, structurally related to fentanyl, that is used primarily as a tranquilizer for large animals like elephants, so dangerous to humans, with a toxicity so high that even tiny amounts can cause fatal overdose.

Carfentanil is increasingly a problem in Ohio. Recent data from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) shows a rising number of drug seizures involving carfentanil in 2025, according to the Office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.

“It takes down an elephant with one `lil grain,” the comment said, referring to carfentanil and the bank tube incident. “Glad everyone’s safe.”