Tucson Region

Agents seize 4,400 lbs. of pot

U.S. Border Patrol agents seized nearly 4,400 pounds of marijuana in separate incidents on the Tohono O'odham Nation Saturday, a spokesman said. About 10:30 a.m., agents with the Casa Grande station were tracking a house trailer near the village of Topawa, south of Sells, and found two Mexican nationals in possession of 53 bundles of marijuana weighing about 1,690 pounds, said Rob Daniels, a Border Patrol spokesman. The smuggling suspects and the marijuana were turned over to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. About 2:30 p.m., agents found two stolen pickup trucks near the village of Cocklebur, about 20 miles southwest of Casa Grande, Daniels said. The trucks contained 158 bundles of marijuana weighing about 2,687 pounds. In all, the marijuana seized Saturday is worth about $3.5 million, Daniels said. The seizures were in the same area agents seized 2,500 pounds of marijuana on Tuesday, Daniels said. Since the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year, agents in the Casa Grande station have seized about 14,700 pounds of marijuana and agents in the entire Tucson Sector have seized more than 85,000 pounds of marijuana.