Marijuana Seizure

MARCH 30, 2012.

PRESS RELEASE

ParkerCountySheriff’s deputies seized in excess of one ton of marijuana Thursday, March 29, 2012, from a tractor trailer at a truck stop off Interstate 20.

ParkerCountySheriff Larry Fowler said while at the truck stop, a sheriff’s deputy observed an incomplete weld from a load located on a truck in the parking lot.

The deputy utilized a Sheriff’s K-9 drug detection dog, to inspect the load. The dog gave the deputy a positive alert for drugs.

Weatherford-Parker County Special Crimes Unit investigators and Weatherford firefighters were called to the scene to assist in cutting the metal containers located on the truck as part of rock rakes manufactured inMexico, used for highway construction. Sheriff’s investigators found nearly one and one-half tons of marijuana stored in the tubes.

The Parker County Sheriff’s Office is part of the High Intensity Drug-Trafficking Area-Domestic Highway Enforcement (HIDTA-DHE), used in similar situations, investigations and seizures.

An investigation revealed the driver of an independent trucking company picked up the load inEl Pasoafter it had passed through customs. Investigators believe the driver was unaware of the marijuana hidden in the containers, and was headed for the east coast.

This is a prime example of what lengths the Mexican drug cartels will go to in order to smuggle drugs into our country,” said Sheriff Fowler. “It is a never-ending battle.”

Fowler added, at a street value of $3,000 per pound of marijuana – the drugs seized Thursday (about 2,500 pounds), is valued at approximately $7.5 million dollars.

No additional details about the investigation are being released at this time. The case is still under investigation.