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Jed Boal Reporting...Narcotics officers have seized a large load of marijuana being smuggled to the streets of the Salt Lake Valley.
And believe it will have a significant impact on drug trafficking in the valley.
Salt Lake County narcotics officers call it the biggest marijuana seizure in recent history. They also call it a lucky break.
Dozens of bricks of marijuana were pulled from a secret compartment in a pick-up truck. That's 254 pounds of marijuana. Street value: one million dollars.
The Neighborhood Narcotics unit got a tip yesterday that a truck was making a big delivery.
They tracked down this truck at a hotel parking lot in the area of 90th South and I-15.
Officers say, it smelled like marijuana and their K-9 police dogs confirmed it.
They watched and waited. When a man got in and drove off, they followed him to an undisclosed home in Sandy.
A short time later, officers moved in on three men as they were unloading the bricks from a compartment under a false bed in the pick-up.
Lt. Steven Alexander/Neighborhood Narcotics Unit: “THIS IS A NICE BUST, AND WE'RE HAPPY AS CAN BE OVER IT...BUT, HOW MANY MORE HAVE GONE THROUGH AND HOW MANY MORE ARE YET TO COME. THAT'S WHY WE'RE IN THE BUSINESS."
Arrested were Carlos Ruiz-Rodriguez, Raymundo Olivas-Torres, Antonio Hernandez-Moreno and Guadalupe Torres-Garcia. All four are Mexican nationals in the country illegally.
They're charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute.
The officers with the Neighborhood Narcotics unit don't know if the suspects used this truck before. But, they think the smugglers had some experience with a truck like it.
