MANNINGTON TWP. -- What started for two Penns Grove women as an alleged attempt to score some cocaine ended in their arrest here this week after mistakenly calling a police officer instead of their drug dealer, authorities said.Alinda Ford and Edna Diaz had allegedly phoned Detective Sgt. Anthony Vanaman of the Salem City Police Department on Tuesday afternoon, though it remains unclear how they made the mistake.

It is the second time in three months a person has inadvertently contacted city police seeking illicit substances.

"I think that it may happen more than it is reported," said police Chief John Pelura III. "It's just that we are proactive enough to follow up on it and make an arrest."

Police said Vanaman handed the phone to Salem County Prosecutor's Office Detective Darryl Saunders, who posed as a drug dealer in their conversation and agreed to meet the suspects at a location in Mannington Township.

Ford, 53, allegedly provided a description of the vehicle she and Diaz, 43, would be driving as well as the time they would meet to purchase about $20 worth of cocaine.

Both women live together in a South Smith Street apartment in Penns Grove.

Members of the prosecutor's office's Mobile Enforcement Team and Salem City Police initiated a sting, waiting for Ford and Diaz to arrive at the rendezvous in the Memorial Hospital of Salem County parking lot, police said.

Once they showed up around 5:30 p.m., Ford and Diaz were arrested and charged with conspiracy to possess a controlled dangerous substance and loitering with the intent to purchase a controlled dangerous substance, police said.

They were released pending municipal court.

This follows a June incident where a 22-year-old Pennsville man and a 20-year-old Pennsville woman were arrested on similar charges after accidentally texting an off-duty Salem corporal looking for marijuana.