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(Photo Courtesy Utah Dept. of Public Safety)
SALT LAKE COUNTY -- The Utah Highway Patrol arrested a man it says was driving down eastbound I-80 near milepost 110 with 157 pounds of marijuana.
Trooper Cameron Roden says the trooper pulled the man over just before 10 p.m. Friday because he was tailgating other vehicles.
The driver was traveling from the Bay area to the Madison, Wisc.
"During the course of the traffic stop the officer was talking with the individual about his travels and what he had been doing. With what the driver was saying, it didn't really add up," Roden tells KSL Newsradio.
The trooper, who is a K-9 officer, got out his police dog named Tank to do a quick run around the car. Tank indicated that something was in the trunk.
At this point the trooper had probable cause to search the vehicle. Inside the trunk he found nine duffel bags, each filled with marijuana. In total there were 157 pounds of pot.
Roden says 33-year-old Elijah K. Thorton was then arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for various drug charges as well as for following too closely to other vehicles.
E-mail: rjeppesen@ksl.com
