Police seize pot worth $550,000: Dog helps track down smuggler who fled vehicle

An Arizona state police officer and his K-9 dog captured a suspected drug smuggler running in a Green Valley neighborhood Monday afternoon.

The chase happened near the Esperanza exit on Interstate 19.

The Department of Public Safety said the suspected smuggler’s pickup truck had been stopped in the northbound lanes near Continental. As the officer was walking toward it, the pickup sped off. The officer jumped back in his vehicle and pursued the fleeing suspect when it turned off at Esperanza Boulevard, Exit 65.

The driver jumped out and tried to run away.

“With the assistance of his K-9 partner, the officer was able to apprehend the driver,” the DPS said in a statement.

In the pickup, there was 1,110 pounds of marijuana, valued at $555,000.

The driver, Ernesto LaHuerta, 38, of Nogales, Sonora, was charged with possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, transportation of marijuana for sale and unlawful flight from law enforcement.

LaHuerta was transported to St. Mary’s Hospital in Tucson where he was treated for severe lacerations and bite wounds.

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