$41M in Pot Found Hidden Amid Charcoal on Border

Updated: Thursday, 21 Apr 2011, 2:54 PM MDT
Published : Thursday, 21 Apr 2011, 2:53 PM MDT

NOGALES, Ariz. - Border agents in Nogales seized four tons of marijuana worth more than $41 million in two tractor-trailer shipments disguised as charcoal.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Brian Levin said Thursday that the first seizure came at 8 p.m. Monday, when border officers targeted a tractor-trailer carrying charcoal and found more than 4,000 pounds of pot hidden inside sacks of charcoal.

The drugs, worth more than $20 million, were seized and the driver, a 47-year-old man from Guasave in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, was arrested.

A half-hour later, officers selected another shipment of charcoal for inspection and found 300 bales of marijuana weighing more than 4,200 pounds. That pot was worth more than $21 million.

The drugs were seized, and the 33-year-old male driver from Nogales, Mexico, was arrested.

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