More than 170 pounds of pot seized on I-8

More than 170 pounds of marijuana were seized Saturday by the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office after a deputy observed a vehicle committing several traffic violations.

 

The deputy attempted to stop a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee around 9 p.m. eastbound on Interstate-8 near Vekol Valley, an area known for drug and human trafficking, according to a released statement from the Sheriff’s Office.

 

The vehicle initially failed to yield to the deputy’s emergency lights and siren. The vehicle finally did yield and came to an abrupt stop along the shoulder of the highway. Immediately, the driver’s door and front passenger’s side door opened.

 

Two males ran from the vehicle southbound into the desert. The deputy found three more men still seated in the back seat of the vehicle. The deputy could see in plain view several packaged bundles of what he believed to be marijuana in the rear portion of the vehicle, according to the statement.

 

The three men, who were all citizens of Mexico in the United States illegally, were taken into custody. They were turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol for processing.

 

The bundles turned out to be more than 170 pounds of marijuana. Deputies and members of the U.S. Border Patrol attempted to track the individuals who fled from the vehicle through the desert but they were unsuccessful, according to the statement.

 

The vehicle was seized by the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office.