Investigators arrested a New Orleans woman found with 52.5 pounds of marijuana in her car during a traffic stop, according to authorities.
Kanika Lemon, 42, was taken into custody on eastbound Interstate 10 in Kenner on Saturday afternoon (April 21). Lemon is accused of transported large amounts of marijuana into the New Orleans area from Houston, according to a Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
Narcotics detectives developed information about the delivery and set up surveillance along the interstate with help from Louisiana State Police troopers, the arrest report said. The investigators stopped Lemon’s vehicle in Kenner around 1:45 p.m. based on that information.
The trooper who stopped Lemon “noticed inconsistencies in Lemon’s travel itinerary,” the report said. Lemon refused to give authorities consent to search her car.
State Police K-9 Trooper Boyca conducted a perimeter check of the vehicle and alerted on the trunk, the report said. Inside, investigators found a large duffel bag with five bundles of marijuana weighing 52.5 pounds, the report said.
Lemon eventually admitted transporting marijuana from Houston to New Orleans for $800 per trip, the report said. She told authorities this was her ninth delivery.
Lemon was booked into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna with possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute. She was released Sunday on a $100,000 bond.
