U.S. Border Patrol seizes pot, vehicle

More than 100 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $107,000 is in custody of the Drug Enforcement Administration after Border Patrol agents seized it Thursday in Yuma from a vehicle abandoned by a smuggler, the patrol said in a news release.

The smuggler jumped out of the 1989 Suzuki Samurai about 10 p.m. and fled on foot into a nearby residential neighborhood after agents tried to stop the vehicle near 8th Street and Avenue B, the release stated.

The smuggler had left the door open and the keys inside the vehicle, the release said, and agents noticed an usual amount of luggage and a storage container in the back of the Suzuki as they were securing the vehicle. The bundles containing 134 pounds of marijuana were found in the luggage.

Agents turned the pot over to DEA.

The pot seizure came after agents became suspicious of the vehicle while performing observation duties, the patrol said.