On Thursday, Pinal County sheriff deputies working with the West Desert Task Force found 1,625 lbs of marijuana in a stolen GMC pickup.
The truck was traveling on east Interstate 8 in Vekol Valley when the driver turned north through an open gate and attempted to conceal the truck in thick brush. A search of the area for two subjects was unsuccessful.
The West Desert Task Force is collaboration between the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, Tucson Sector Border Patrol, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
Earlier in the week, deputies investigated a 13-year-old who brought marijuana into a Florence school, and two people dealing drugs out of a house in Toltec.
On Wednesday, members of the PCSO Narcotics Task Force were called by the Florence Police Department to help investigate a drug case after a 13-year-old boy brought marijuana to school.
The boy told detectives he’d gotten the drugs from his father.
Deputies made contact with the father, identified as Jason Kendrick, 36. Kendrick allowed detectives to search his home and they found a plastic bin containing approximately eight pounds of packaged hydroponics marijuana valued at $28,000.
Kendricks said he got the drugs from a family member out of state. Charges have been forwarded to the Pinal County Attorney’s Office.
