March pot seizures in east Yuma County approach 3,000 pounds

 Border Patrol agents assigned to the Wellton area have seized nearly 3,000 pounds of marijuana carried across the border by smugglers this month, the patrol said.

  Most recently, agents working out of the Wellton Station arrested 17 suspected smugglers and seized a total of 833 pounds of pot in two smuggling attempts Tuesday and Wednesday.

  On Wednesday, agents on patrol south of Wellton found and followed footprints for about 19 miles before they located and arrested nine people who carried on their backs bundles of pot weighing a collective total of 432 pounds, the patrol said. The pot was valued at $346,160

  The nine, all Mexican nationals, had illegally entered the country, the patrol said.

  On Tuesday, Wellton Station agents found tracks south of Dateland, and followed the footprints for 13 miles to some underbrush where they found eight pot bundles that had been fashioned into backpacks, the patrol said.

  Near the packs, the agents found eight Mexican nationals who had entered the country illegally, the patrol said. They were arrested.

  The marijuana from that seizure, weighing 400 pounds, was valued at $320,240, the patrol said.

  The seizures followed the seizure of nearly 700 pounds of pot by agents on Monday. That pot was valued at more than $500,000.

  Since March 1, Wellton Station agents have seized 2,900 pounds of pot, the patrol said.