Police seize $2.2M worth of pot after U-Haul truck stopped

ALBANY, Ore. (AP) — Police said Thursday that law enforcement seized about $2.2 million in marijuana found stuffed in plastic bags in a U-Haul truck on Interstate 5 near Albany, Oregon.

On Nov. 3, a detective with the Linn Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team was traveling south on I-5 when he encountered a 26-foot (8-meter) U-Haul box truck and became aware of a strong odor of marijuana, according to a news release from Albany Police.

Police said the detective coordinated with law enforcement agencies to have the truck stopped. The two men in the truck said they were hauling furniture. Police said the smell of marijuana was overwhelming and they found the truck to be full of large black plastic garbage bags of pot.

Police said they arrested Vidal Gonzlaes-Tetlctle of Hermiston, Oregon, and Jose Guadalupe-Alatorre, of Redway, California on suspicion of unlawful possession and delivery of marijuana and criminal conspiracy. It wasn’t immediately known if they have attorneys to comment on their behalf.

Members of the narcotics team who later searched the vehicle found 2,800 pounds (1,270 kilograms) of pot and components of a marijuana grow, according to police.