Patrol seizes more than $2 million in pot

The Border Patrol seized marijuana valued at more than $2 million near Yuma after the vehicles used to carry it across the border became disabled early Sunday, the patrol said.
 
The pot, wrapped in 196 bundles weighing a total of more than 3,100 pounds, was found in a 2003 Chevrolet Silverado that had been found abandoned after it developed mechanical problems, the patrol said in a news release said.
 
Four sets of footprints led from the vehicle into Mexico, the patrol said.
 
The pot was loaded into the Silverado after a flat tire disabled a 2008 GMC Sierra that originally carried it across the border near Avenue 8E, the patrol said.
 
The seizures came after patrol agents discovered that a section of fence between the United States and Mexico had been cut, the release said.
 
Agent Laura Boston, a spokeswoman for the patrol's Yuma sector, said the cut may have been made in a wire mesh section of the fence.
 
Agents followed tire tracks from the fence for about 10 miles, where they found the Sierra abandoned. Inside the cab and bed of the truck, agents found several plastic-wrapped pot bundles.
 
Following tire tracks from the Sierra, agents found the Silverado, the release said.
 
The pot had a street value of $2.5 million, the patrol said. It was turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
 
The Arizona Department of Public Safety took custody of the vehicles. The Sierra was previously reported stolen in Yuma, the patrol said.