3 pot busts total a half-million dollars

Officers at the port of entry in San Luis, Ariz., stopped more than 322 pounds of marijuana that smugglers tried to bring across the border in a recent two-day period.

Three people were arrested in connection with the smuggling of the pot, which, according to Customs and Border Protection, had a street value of more than $500,000.

The pot was seized in three separate incidents. The first occurred the morning of July 23, when officers located 128 pounds of pot in the liquid propane gas tank of a 1995 GMC pickup.

The tank was searched after officers found discrepancies in the tank, the CBP said in a news release.

The unidentified driver of the truck, a 48-year-old citizen of Mexico, was arrested.

Later that day, officers seized 76 pounds of marijuana in a 1995 Winnebago Minnie motor home after a narcotics detector dog alerted officers to the presence of drugs. A 25-year-old U.S. citizen driving the vehicle was arrested.

Another 118 pounds of marijuana was found the next afternoon in the bed sidewalls of a 1994 Chevrolet Cheyenne pickup, after a dog warned officers of the presence of drugs, according to the news release.

The driver, a 17-year-old Mexican national, was arrested.

The total estimated street value of pot in the three seizures was $516,000, said Brian Levin, a CBP spokesman in Tucson.

He said that estimate is based on dollar figures provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration for how much marijuana is selling on the street in the Phoenix area and around the state.