"Authorities swooped in on a house owned by Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Jerome Simpson after a package containing 2.5 pounds of California marijuana was allegedly delivered to the home. Investigators found six more pounds of pot inside the home, says Michelle Gregory, spokeswoman for the California Department of Justice.

Gregory confirmed the information that CaliforniaWatch.org, a group of investigative journalists, broke on Wednesday after local reporters heard persistent rumors about the incident.

Gregory said Simpson and Bengals teammate Anthony Collins were present when a woman, identified as Aleen Smith, 27, accepted the package Tuesday at Simpson's home. Authorities detained Simpson and Collins, but no one was arrested, Gregory said. Simpson told police he lived at the residence and gave officers consent to search the premises, Gregory said.

During the search, officers found about 6 more pounds of pot, Gregory said, which was seized along with related items such as "packaging materials, scales and smoking devices."

"The house was set up as a potential distribution network," Tommy LaNier, head of the National Marijuana Initiative, told CaliforniaWatch. The NMI is funded by the Office of National Drug Control Policy and helps coordinate marijuana enforcement operations around the United States. "