$3 million pot bust on reservation

Green Valley News

The strong smell of marijuana coming from a house on the Tohono O’odham Nation west of Green Valley led to a seizure of two tons of marijuana with an estimated $3 million street value.

Agents were called to the home Wednesday by somebody in the area and found a shed with a pickup inside along with 142 bundles of pot and a .22-caliber rifle, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The agency would not reveal the exact location of the bust because the investigation is ongoing.

Information at the home led to the search of two more homes also believed to be involved in drug trafficking. Agents found two rifles, marijuana, two ATVs, battery chargers, solar panels and a radio scanner at the homes.

Robert Gilbert, who oversees the Tucson Sector for the Border Patrol, said the discovery indicates drug smuggling is controlled by organized crime, not mom-and-pop operations.

The marijuana weighed 4,100 pounds and had a street value of more than $3.35 million, according to the agency.

Since the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, Tucson Sector agents have seized more than 341,200 pounds of pot, a 16 percent increase over the previous year, according to the agency.