Truck loaded with pot gets stuck in Rio Grande (1:36 p.m.)
By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
Article Launched:11/10/2006 01:33:38 PM MST


A stolen pickup truck loaded with marijuana got stuck in the Rio Grande trying to flee from the Border Patrol on Thursday night near Tornillo, Juárez police reported.
The truck's occupants abandoned the vehicle on the Mexican side of the river bed and ran away. They have not been found. The truck, a 2005 gray Chevrolet, was reported stolen in El Paso, May 19, Juárez police said.

Police said it took officers from the tiny town of Guadalupe Distrito Bravos and Mexican federal agents several hours to to pull the vehicle from the river mud. The agents found 150 bundles of marijuana in the truck, weighing a total of 1,441 pounds, officials said.

Border Patrol officials could not be reached today for comment.