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Sheriff's deputies seized more than 400 pounds of marijuana Tuesday afternoon from a woman who they say was impersonating a U.S. Army recruiter.
The deputies stopped the woman on Interstate 20/59 after noticing that the U.S. Government tags on the front and back of the GMC Yukon she was driving didn't match, Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ted Sexton said.
The woman initially denied having drugs in the car when deputies asked about a strong smell of marijuana, he said.
The woman was nervous and visibly shaking, he said, and complained of nausea before admitting that there were drugs in the vehicle.
A search of the vehicle turned up 403 pounds of marijuana wrapped in clear plastic and concealed in black canvas bags in the rear and luggage areas of the SUV. The marijuana was bundled into 20 bales. Narcotics officers estimated that each pound was worth around $1,000, which would put the street value of the marijuana at $403,000.
"We're in the middle of harvest season, so we anticipate to see more of these," Sexton said.
Deputies charged Jeri Shonte Lacy, 31, of Dallas, Texas with trafficking in cannabis. She was released from the Tuscaloosa County Jail on a $100,000 bail.
Sexton would not say where Lacy was traveling from, or where she was going.
"It's under investigation and we're trying to make cases on both ends," he said.
Sexton said that the deputies are part of the department's criminal traffic unit, a group of officers trained to monitor the interstate and heavily traveled roads. Officers in the unit have made cash seizures, drug seizures and arrested people on terrorist watch lists and people in possession of forged identification, he said.
The FBI may charge Lacy later with impersonating an Army recruiter and using counterfeit government tags, he said.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: TuscaloosaNews.com | The Tuscaloosa News | Tuscaloosa, AL
Author: Stephanie Taylor
Contact: Staff Listing | TuscaloosaNews.com
Copyright: 2010 TuscaloosaNews.com
Website:Deputies seize more than 400 pounds of marijuana | TuscaloosaNews.com
The deputies stopped the woman on Interstate 20/59 after noticing that the U.S. Government tags on the front and back of the GMC Yukon she was driving didn't match, Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ted Sexton said.
The woman initially denied having drugs in the car when deputies asked about a strong smell of marijuana, he said.
The woman was nervous and visibly shaking, he said, and complained of nausea before admitting that there were drugs in the vehicle.
A search of the vehicle turned up 403 pounds of marijuana wrapped in clear plastic and concealed in black canvas bags in the rear and luggage areas of the SUV. The marijuana was bundled into 20 bales. Narcotics officers estimated that each pound was worth around $1,000, which would put the street value of the marijuana at $403,000.
"We're in the middle of harvest season, so we anticipate to see more of these," Sexton said.
Deputies charged Jeri Shonte Lacy, 31, of Dallas, Texas with trafficking in cannabis. She was released from the Tuscaloosa County Jail on a $100,000 bail.
Sexton would not say where Lacy was traveling from, or where she was going.
"It's under investigation and we're trying to make cases on both ends," he said.
Sexton said that the deputies are part of the department's criminal traffic unit, a group of officers trained to monitor the interstate and heavily traveled roads. Officers in the unit have made cash seizures, drug seizures and arrested people on terrorist watch lists and people in possession of forged identification, he said.
The FBI may charge Lacy later with impersonating an Army recruiter and using counterfeit government tags, he said.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: TuscaloosaNews.com | The Tuscaloosa News | Tuscaloosa, AL
Author: Stephanie Taylor
Contact: Staff Listing | TuscaloosaNews.com
Copyright: 2010 TuscaloosaNews.com
Website:Deputies seize more than 400 pounds of marijuana | TuscaloosaNews.com
