U.S. Customs Seizes Nearly 10 Tons of Pot

[Rob-TheStormChaser]

U.S. Customs Service officers seized nearly 10 tons of marijuana from a tractor-trailer truck carrying computer circuits across the U.S.-Mexican border, officials said Saturday.

Investigators said they believed the roughly $9 million shipment was the largest amount of marijuana ever seized on America's Southwest border.

"Any time we can prevent 10 tons of narcotics from entering the streets of America, it's a great day for the U.S. Customs Service," said Michael Turner, special agent in charge of the U.S. Customs Office of Investigations in San Diego.

Investigators found 4,000 plastic-wrapped packages of marijuana inside the truck with California license plates at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, on the eastern edge of San Diego. The truck, on its way north from Mexico, was under inspection Friday when a drug-sniffing dog alerted officials to its cargo. Inside, officials found packages of a green, leafy substance that tested positive for marijuana.

The truck's driver, Carlos Ibarra, 39, of Tijuana, was arrested by Customs agents and transported to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in San Diego until his arraignment in federal court.

Before Friday's seizure, the largest amount of marijuana intercepted at the border was about 7.5 tons in April 2001. Earlier this month, officers at the El Paso border seized 6.3 tons.

"Although our primary focus is on anti-terrorism, we have not diminished our commitment to ensuring that dangerous narcotics are denied entry into the United States," said Nat Aycox, U.S. Customs director of field operations in San Diego,

With more than 1.4 million truck crossings per year, the Otay Mesa Port of Entry is the largest commercial crossing along the California-Mexico border, according to the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce. It handles the second highest volume of trucks among all U.S.-Mexico land border crossings.

[mf_dolphin]

Well at least we know one dissappointed person. Whoever, was waiting for that shipment is not a happy camper right about now

[breeze]

LoL, Marshall - Cheech and Chong are sitting somewhere saying, "maaaan...where's my smoke?" :o

[black opal]

Hi, I finally have a computer. It is slow and is not on modem. But to the topic at hand I would have to say something poilitically uncorrect so I will pass. Good to be back.

[mf_dolphin]

Great to see you back Black Opal! Thought you'd dropped off the face of the earth :o This may be the last straw for the economy...the price of pot going up

Oh well, pot is one of those things if they legalized it and taxed it we probably be better off. Personlly I dont think pot is any worse than alcohol it's just illegal. How's that for politically incorrect

[coriolis]

Bummer, man.
But seriously, I'll bet for every truck that gets stopped, there's probably 10 that get through.

[Rob-TheStormChaser]

lol yeah...someone will be furious.

welcome back black...I hope you can hang here more often.

[breeze]

Hey, black opal! I was wondering if you had left and decided that we
were ALL crazy...LoL! Good to have you back!

I've lived for 40 years in the "politically incorrect" zone! Got
some strange looks....I'm starting to mellow, now, and, can
discuss those kinds of topics with a big 'ole Cheshire Cat grin....

[coriolis]

MF, for politically incorrect, that's pretty mild.
Breeze, well, ahem, um, well, gee whiz.
Myself, I gave it up when I got married and had kids.

Book 'em Dan-o

[JQ Public]

Welcome back black opal Hehe too funny...someone was definitly dissappointed not to see that shipment come in!!

[coriolis]

Hey JQ, how's it going?

[Amanzi]

lol..breeze

Yeah someone is realy peeved on this end of the border (pot is cheeper in south-africa than a loaf of bread, you can buy it in trash bags full, it even grows wild....hence the term weed!)

Breeze I had to laugh at your cheech and chong comment my best part is in up in smoke where he says "what ever you do dont look at his neck man" never mind if you havent seen the movie.....it's cheesy but a good chuckle.

[Rob-TheStormChaser]

lol that was Strawberry...lol the guy wigged out from Nam!

[breeze]

LoL, Amanzi - a friend and I used to have "Cheech and Chong Sunday", where we'd rent out every C&C movie that we could find, and, watch them, all day long - NOT smoking the stuff, of course, but, laughing at the foolishness of it all! I do remember that, and, yes, Rob remembers it, too,
I see!

Coriolis, well, I didn't have any young'uns, so, it took some of us
a bit longer to mellow out....

[Stephanie]

DAMN!!!!

Cheech & Chong - ah, the good ol' days!! Actually, I saw one of their movies on a couple of weeks ago and turned it on (no, not "turned on"). It's just not the same as when you're "feeling no pain".

It's been years for me too. If I had continued I would be wearing tents right about now!

[coriolis]

Yeah, it's one of those things...
It really isn't as destructive as alcohol, but with things the way they are, it can be very inconvenient to get busted, and they are giving the kids a strong anti-drug message in the schools. I wanted to set a good example and not be a hypocrite. I've seen first hand the complications that can arise when a parent still partakes and then the kids find out. There's the money issue too. When the kids need new shoes, it would just be wrong to keep feeding the habit.

[mf_dolphin]

I agree! Funny thing though, you could say the exact same thing about alcohol but there's no danger of it being criminalized again. As with anything, moderation is the key. I lived for two years in Alaska where it was legal to grow pot for your own consumption (those rules didn't apply to us military folks ) and they didn't have much problem with pot.

Oh well, you have to abide by the laws even if you don't agree with them.

[pojo]

My little brother loves watch Cheech and Chong movies. We just happened to watch Up in Smoke last sunday. That's a good that the marijuana was seized, but that's a bummer for the people waiting for the arrival

[JQ Public]

Hey coriolis. How ya doing? Just fine here...the same old college life. I haven't really talked to ya in a while. I noticed you were here...do you still post at TWC?