641 pounds of marijuana seized in five stops
In a little more than 24 hours, Nebraska State Patrol troopers took 641 pounds of marijuana off Interstate 80.
The seizures took place in five traffic stops — four of them in Central Nebraska — with two stops resulting in seizures of 257 and 230 pounds of marijuana, respectively.
Just before 6 p.m. Wednesday, a trooper stopped an eastbound 2010 Dodge Nitro just off the Utica interchange in Seward County for failure to signal. A patrol dog alerted the trooper to the odor of drugs coming from the vehicle. A search led to the seizure of just more than 257 pounds of marijuana, which was in two garbage bags in the cargo area of the vehicle, according to a press release from the State Patrol.
The driver and lone occupant of the vehicle, Sarah E. Adams, 36, Meridian, Idaho, was taken to the Seward County Jail for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.
A few hours earlier, around 2 p.m. Wednesday, a trooper seized 230 pounds of marijuana from an eastbound 2004 Dodge Ram pickup. The vehicle was stopped for failing to signal a lane change about two miles east of the Aurora interchange on I-80. A patrol dog alerted to the odor of drugs coming from the rear of the vehicle. A search led to the discovery of the drugs in a false bed of the pickup.
The driver and lone occupant of the pickup, Robert A. South, 40, Federal Way, Wash., was taken to the Hamilton County Jail for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.
Three additional traffic stops on I-80 resulted in the other seizures.
Failing to signal led to a stop around 1 p.m. Wednesday near the Giltner interchange. A trooper found 85 pounds of marijuana in the vehicle.
The driver and lone occupant of the vehicle, Alexander N. Hentschel, 60, Las Vegas, was taken to the Hamilton County Jail for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.
A stop for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle just after 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, also near the Giltner interchange, resulted in the seizure of just more than 28 pounds of marijuana.
The driver of the vehicle, Dwayne C. Melvin, 50, Buffalo, N.Y., and a passenger, Lonnette M. Carr, 30, Buffalo, N.Y., were taken to the Hamilton County Jail for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.
Three people were arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver after a traffic stop Tuesday for following too close. The stop occurred just east of the Kearney interchange on I-80 and resulted in the seizure of 40 pounds of marijuana.
The driver of the vehicle, Barry Baker, 60, Brooklyn, N.Y., and two passengers, Emad Mohamed, 30, Cheektowaga, N.Y., and Noman Sheikh Ilyas, 31, Grass Valley, Calif., were taken to the Buffalo County Jail.
