Thread: Several dozen bundles of marijuana recovered from oil tanker

Several dozen bundles of marijuana recovered from oil tanker

July 12, 2010 | 12:52 pm

A trail of sticky black grease led police to an oil tanker in East Los Angeles that was hiding a stash of marijuana bundles weighing in at up to 50 pounds each, authorities said Monday.

The incident began Sunday night when Los Angeles Police Department officers attempted to stop a speeding vehicle near the train tracks around Union Pacific Avenue. The three suspects sped off and got away, prompting officers to set up a perimeter, authorities said.

When the suspects were found, officers noticed an oily substance on their pants. The same gunk was on several bundles of marijuana found in their vehicle.

"So the officers start looking around, and they find an oil tanker," LAPD Det. Gus Villanueva said.

The grease coated the railroad car, which was parked near the tracks around Union Pacific Avenue and Eastman Avenue. As of noon Monday, the Los Angeles Fire Department had recovered 38 additional bundles of marijuana from the tanker.

Authorities say there is more marijuana, but they had to take a break from searching the tanker because a suspicious object was found and the bomb squad was called in.
Villanueva said it was unclear whether the suspects were stashing the drugs in the tanker after the pursuit or if they were recovering a cache stored there.

A dollar value on the marijuana was not available, but police said there were dozens of bundles.

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Jul 12, 11:40 PM EDT

LA police find pot stash in railroad tanker

By NARDINE SAAD
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A late-night police pursuit ended with a drug bust and the discovery Monday of thousands of pounds of marijuana concealed in a railroad tank car that entered the U.S. from Mexico this month.

Police Detective Gus Villanueva said numerous bundles of pot were removed from the gooey inside of the petroleum rail tanker by late morning and many more packages were still inside.

The retrieval operation in a rail yard southeast of downtown Los Angeles was halted at about 10 a.m. because something suspicious was found inside and a bomb squad was summoned, Villanueva said.

The bomb squad set a charge and detonated the small cylindrical object at 5 p.m.

"The explosion created enough destructive force to destroy the suspicious cylinder but not to destroy the integrity of the container," said Fire Capt. Steve Ruda, referring to the tank car.

He said the squad was in the process of determining what the object was and whether it was safe for crews to continue removing the marijuana bundles.

The marijuana discovery occurred after officers tried to halt a vehicle traveling erratically east of downtown late Sunday and the driver refused to stop. The chase ended near the rail yard in Commerce, where three men jumped out of the car and were quickly arrested.

Officers noticed an oily substance on the suspects' clothing and found bundles of marijuana coated with oil in the car.

The officers were then led to the nearby tank car, Villanueva said.

The tanker was moved about a half-block to a safer area, and additional bundles were found inside.

Investigators used Fire Department ladders to reach the hatch atop the tanker. Marijuana removed from inside was lowered to the ground by bucket.

Thirty-eight bundles of marijuana were removed from the tanker before the operation was halted. Authorities said a similar number remained inside.

Two firefighters who experienced rapid heartbeats while involved in the operation were taken to a hospital for precautionary exams.

The tank car, owned by the Chicago-based Union Tank Car Co., crossed the border into the United States on July 4 and reached Commerce on July 10 with documentation marking it as empty, said Aaron Hunt, spokesman for Union Pacific Railroad's western region. The car's point of origin was not confirmed, and a phone message left with Union Tank Car was not immediately returned.

Hunt did not know if it had been inspected upon entry and arrival.

"The information I have to date is this is very unusual," he said. "This doesn't happen often for us, not at all."

Commerce is a small industrial city with many rail facilities.

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Quote:
"LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A late-night police pursuit ended with a drug bust and the discovery Monday of thousands of pounds of marijuana concealed in a railroad tank car that entered the U.S. from Mexico this month.

Police Detective Gus Villanueva said numerous bundles of pot were removed from the gooey inside of the petroleum rail tanker by late morning and many more packages were still inside.

HUNT DID NOT KNOW IF IT HAD BEEN INSPECTED UPON ENTRY AND ARRIVAL."


This is why we must fight the entry of Mexican trucks into the United States under NAFTA plus the opening of "Inland Ports" as Mexican customs units within the United States itself - implementation of both of these programs eventually would place Mexico in charge of the "inspection process" of the means of most commercial transportion entering the U.S. from Mexico by road, rail, air, etc..

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) is leading the fight to keep the Obama Administration from ending the temporary stay which has kept Mexican Trucks from entering the U.S. beyond a certain limits. Mexico has placed boycotts on a number of U.S. products which are regularly imported in protest, and this boycott unfortunately is placing a financial burden on small U.S. businesses which supply these products. However, whether--as this Administration, like that before it, claims--this justifies allowing unsafe and virtually uninspected Mexican trucks freely into our country certainly is open to very grave questions, as the above articles illustrate.

Jul 13, 9:50 PM EDT

3 arrested in Los Angeles in relation to rail car pot

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Three men whose arrests led to the discovery of hundreds of pounds of marijuana in a railroad tanker car have been charged with drug possession in Los Angeles.

The district attorney's office says 28-year-old Jesse Lopez, 18-year-old Justin Coffey and 19-year-old Kristopher Maldonado were each charged Tuesday with two felony counts.

The three were arrested late Sunday following a short pursuit that led to a rail yard in Commerce.

Officers said they noticed an oily substance on the suspects' clothing and found bundles of marijuana coated with oil in the car.

Authorities say further investigation led officers to the rail car that entered the U.S. from Mexico this month. In all, 78 bundles of marijuana, each weighing about 20 pounds, were removed from the tanker.

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