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K-9 unit discovers ton of pot in big rig
Officials say it's a record find in Jefferson County

Saturday, February 18, 2006
CAROL ROBINSON and JON ANDERSON
News staff writers

A routine traffic stop by a highway patrol task force led to Jefferson County's largest-ever drug bust, authorities reported Friday.

Officers with the Highway Safety Unit, comprising Jefferson County sheriff's deputies and Hoover police, found more than 2,000 pounds of marijuana in a hidden compartment inside a tractor-trailer Thursday afternoon. The drugs are worth an estimated $4.1 million.

"It was a good day for law enforcement in Jefferson County," Sheriff Mike Hale said.

Hale said deputies stopped the rig while it was traveling eastbound at Leeds on Interstate 20 about 4 p.m.

"These officers are trained in recognizing drug runners," Hale said.

The trailer was loaded with crushed aluminum cans. Drug-sniffing dogs brought to the scene indicated there was something else. Investigators discovered the trailer had been modified, and found the marijuana bales in a hidden compartment, the sheriff said.

Darwin Argueta-Acetinua, a 25-year-old Guatemalan, and Guillermo Carmona, 39, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in El Salvadora, were arrested. The two men are charged with trafficking marijuana. Both men - who live in California- are being held without bond in the county jail.

Hale said investigators had hoped the men would tell them where the drugs were from and where they were headed, but they refused.

The Jefferson County highway safety unit has recovered more than $10 million in illegal narcotics and drug money since its inception last year, Hale said.

"Unfortunately, the drug trade is a scourge. For every dealer we get, there's another that takes his place," Hale said. "These drugs run over all of the interstates. We're going to do our part in taking them out."

Also Friday, Bessemer police seized 20 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop. Lt. R.E. Miller said a car being driven by a man from Michigan was stopped while driving south on Interstate 20/59. Officers searched the car.

"It was all individually packaged in plastic bags," Miller said. "It was a lot of dope."

Two people were taken into custody.

News staff writer Robert K. Gordon contributed to this report.

E-mail: crobinson@bhamnews.com