7 TONS OF MARIJUANA SEIZED AT BORDER

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Authorities seized more than seven tons of marijuana from
a tractor-trailer in what is believed to be the largest seizure ever along
the U.S.-Mexico border, the Customs Service said Wednesday.

Agents found 15,185 pounds of marijuana in boxes among a shipment of
television sets as the truck attempted to cross the border in San Diego, a
Customs spokesman said.

The driver, Jose Gurrola Olivas, 22, of Tijuana, Mexico, was being held at
a federal jail in San Diego.

Inspectors stopped the truck Tuesday during a routine check with
drug-detecting dogs. Customs officers then used a gamma-ray imaging system,
a device similar to an X-ray, to check the trailer's interior and detected
irregular shapes among the television boxes.

The seizure is believed to be the largest at a port of entry on the
U.S.-Mexico border, according to Jay Ahern, acting director of field
operations at the Southern California Customs Management Center.

Authorities estimated the street value of the marijuana at $12.1 million.