Car-hauler caught with 460 pounds of marijuana

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Phil Stake
Staff writer

GALLUP — A Texas man is the latest to be caught hauling drugs through the port of entry west of Gallup.

The 32-year-old man, whose name was not released, remains in federal custody, according to a news release issued Friday by Department of Public Safety Communications Director Peter Olson.

New Mexico Motor Transportation Police found about 460 pounds in a single car, which the man was hauling. Olson said that police found an irregularity on the man’s paperwork, which led them to discover a single car in his multi-car load that did not belong.

“The pot was wrapped in 18 bundles and hidden in the out-of-place car,” Olson said.

The pot has a street value of nearly $700,000, according to Olson. Police said the man was headed to Arkansas, having picked up the load of cars and pot in Arizona.