State troopers seized about 290 pounds of marijuana during a pair traffic stops along U.S. Highway 287 last week.
Jaime Cortez, 48, of Fresno, Calif., was arrested Wednesday in Childress County and charged with possession of marijuana.
Roland Ashley Hughes, 40, of Las Vegas, was arrested Thursday in Wichita County and charged with possession of marijuana.
According to Texas Department of Public Safety news releases:
About 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, a DPS trooper conducted a commercial motor vehicle inspection on a 2016 Volvo truck tractor and 2011 Great Dane trailer on U.S. 287 near Childress.
During the inspection of the trailer, the trooper found several large duffel bags containing numerous vacuum-sealed packages of marijuana.
The driver, identified as Cortez, was arrested and charged with second-degree felony possession of marijuana. He was taken to the Childress County Jail.
The illegal drugs were being transported to an unknown location from California.
Then, around 5:45 p.m. Thursday, a DPS trooper stopped a 2017 Mercedes Benz GLE 350 on U.S. Highway 287 near Iowa Park for a traffic violation.
During the traffic stop, a DPS canine was requested to conduct a free air sniff of the vehicle. The canine alerted to the presence of narcotics and the vehicle was searched.
Troopers found several large cardboard boxes with marijuana in the rear of the vehicle and hashish in the luggage.
The combined weight of the marijuana was 81 pounds, and the hashish totaled 17 grams.
The driver, identified as Hughes, was taken to the Wichita County Jail on the second-degree felony drug charge.
The illegal drugs were allegedly being transported from Palm Springs, Calif., to Dallas.
