Federal authorizes seized 8 pounds of methamphetamine and arrested two men Tuesday in a bust in the parking lot of the Buffalo Wild Wings in Moorestown, according to court documents.

The arrests came after the two men met inside the restaurant off Nixon Drive, across from the Moorestown Mall, and then a cookware set box containing the drugs exchanged hands in the parking lot, an official from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a criminal complaint.

Authorities received information earlier this month from a source that the sale of "a large volume of methamphetamine would be taking place" about 3 p.m. Tuesday in the restaurant's parking lot, officials said.

Law enforcement placed the establishment under surveillance Tuesday and watched as two men - one in a red minivan, the other in a blue vehicle - arrived at the restaurant and went inside for about 25 minutes.

When they emerged, the driver of the blue vehicle - identified as Anthony Morales, 44, of Bronx, New York - reached into his car and removed the cookware box set and handed it to the other driver, who began to walk away, according to the complaint.

That's when law enforcement arrested the two men.

When officers opened the box, they found eight bags of white crystals that later tested positive for methamphetamine, the complaint said.

The bags weighed about eight pounds, according to the complaint.

Morales later admitted to a Spanish-speaking investigator that he had intended to sell the drugs to the other man and was arrested while awaiting payment. The other man was not named in court documents.

Morales faces federal charges of possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a schedule II controlled substance, according to the complaint.

No other information was given in the complaint about the other suspect.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.