Man arrested on pot charge; officers find 3,370 pounds
By Alexis Bechman
arizona daily star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.26.2008
advertisementA man was arrested late Saturday night after an officer conducting a traffic stop on Interstate 19 south of Green Valley found 3,370 pounds of marijuana in a tractor-trailer hidden beneath tomatoes it was carrying, an official said.
Sergio Navarro Santana, 48, who carried a California driver's license, was arrested on transportation of marijuana for sale, said Sgt. Mark Morlock of the Counter Narcotics Alliance.
The drug's street value is estimated at $1.6 million, he said.
Cory Lancow, an Arizona Department of Public Safety officer, pulled Santana over around 11 p.m. for an equipment violation.
After speaking with him, the officer noticed inconsistencies in his statements and became suspicious, Morlock said.
Santana gave the officer consent to search the tractor-trailer, and the officer had a drug-sniffing dog assist, Morlock said.
The dog, Mack, alerted officers to the front of the tractor- trailer. When officers climbed to the front, over boxes of tomatoes, they found the marijuana underneath, Morlock said.
Detectives from the Counter Narcotics Alliance are investigating to determine where the drugs were headed and where they came from.
Investigators have determined the truck never crossed in from Mexico so the marijuana was loaded onto the truck somewhere in the United States, Morlock said.
Santana was booked into the Pima County jail.
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