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Tucson Region
Up to 3.5 tons of pot is seized from truck, business; 4 arrested
By Dale Quinn
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.09.2007

Investigators from the Counter Narcotics Alliance seized as much as 7,000 pounds of marijuana south of Downtown Thursday morning and arrested four people on drug charges, officials said.

Authorities estimated the wholesale value of the marijuana at $500 per pound, which means the bust could have a value of $3.5 million.

Members of the multi- agency Counter Narcotics Alliance raided Bearing-Belt & Chain Inc., 430 W. 22nd St., at about 8:30 a.m. and seized an estimated 5,000 pounds of marijuana, said Lt. Kelly J. Lane of the Tucson Police Department.

Earlier that day, around 6 a.m., police officers pulled over a black pickup truck with Sonoran license plates because the white trailer it was pulling had no lights, Lane said. The truck's driver and passenger appeared nervous, Lane said.

Officers said they found a firearm with its safety off and a magazine loaded with 40 rounds, along with marijuana debris on the floor of the truck.

When the officers searched the trailer, they found between 1,000 and 2,000 pounds of marijuana, Lane said.

Further investigation and evidence at the scene led the police to the business on West 22nd Street.

The driver of the truck, 27-year-old Ronaldo Carrizoza Martinez of Sonora, Mexico, and the passenger, Tucsonan Luis Carlos Nido Chavez, 38, were arrested on suspicion of possession of marijuana for sale; transportation of marijuana for sale; and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug violation.

A front-counter salesman of Bearing-Belt & Chain Inc., 37-year-old Leland Crockwell, was arrested on suspicion of possession of marijuana and possession of marijuana for sale.

Saul Carrizoza Martinez, 31, of Cumpas, Sonora, was arrested on suspicion of drug possession as he left the business in a car, Lane said.
The business appeared to be a marijuana-distribution point, and the drugs probably wouldn't have stayed there long before being moved again, Lane said.