Hourly Update
Border Patrol finds load of pot at checkpoint stop south of Tucson
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 04.15.2008

With the help of a drug-sniffing dog, Border Patrol agents found more than 2,800 pounds of marijuana hidden in the back of a semi-trailer at the Interstate 19 checkpoint north of Tubac Monday night.

At about 9:30 p.m., the dog alerted agents to an odor coming from the back of a semi-trailer, said Mike Scioli, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman. They discovered 125 bundles of marijuana on three pallets, he said.

The 2,874 pounds of marijuana has an estimated value of $1.6 million, according to figures from the National Drug Intelligence Center.

From Oct. 1, the start of fiscal year 2008, through March, agents have seized 24,000 pounds of marijuana at the checkpoint, located at kilometer post 42 on Interstate 19, Scioli said.

Sector-wide, agents have seized 451,000 pounds of marijuana in that time period, a 10 percent decreased from the previous year.
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