Temecula Marijuana Bust (Riverside Co. Sheriff's Dept. / August 27, 2009) |
TEMECULA -- A man is under arrest after he was caught driving a big rig truck hauling more than 14 tons of marijuana on Interstate 15. Police say the illegal weed has a street value of about $25 million.
The man, whose identity was not disclosed, was taken into custody by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents following the discovery, Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said. He is facing prosecution in federal court, Gutierrez said.
A patrol deputy pulled the driver over about 9 a.m. Wednesday on northbound Interstate 15, just past the Rainbow Canyon Road exit south of Temecula, for a traffic violation. Inside the truck, deputies found an estimated 25,000 pounds of marijana plants.
"The guy made an illegal lane change," Gutierrez said, adding that a search of the trailer revealed the contraband "stacked from front to back -- solid."
Gutierrez said it was the largest confiscation of marijuana in the history of the Riverside Sheriff Department.
"It's so much, we're still weighing and counting it," Gutierrez said Wednesday. He said the cannabis is estimated to have a wholesale value of more than $10 million and a street value of about $25 million.
The man, whose identity was not disclosed, was taken into custody by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents following the discovery, Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said. He is facing prosecution in federal court, Gutierrez said.
A patrol deputy pulled the driver over about 9 a.m. Wednesday on northbound Interstate 15, just past the Rainbow Canyon Road exit south of Temecula, for a traffic violation. Inside the truck, deputies found an estimated 25,000 pounds of marijana plants.
"The guy made an illegal lane change," Gutierrez said, adding that a search of the trailer revealed the contraband "stacked from front to back -- solid."
Gutierrez said it was the largest confiscation of marijuana in the history of the Riverside Sheriff Department.
"It's so much, we're still weighing and counting it," Gutierrez said Wednesday. He said the cannabis is estimated to have a wholesale value of more than $10 million and a street value of about $25 million.
