$3.5 MILLION IN MARIJUANA SEIZED

Jeffco Deputies Find Haul In Trailer Of Beets

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department seized 1,800 pounds of
marijuana from a tractor trailer on Interstate 20, the second-largest
marijuana bust in the agency's history.

The department's highway interdiction team on Sunday stopped the
eastbound truck about 6 p.m. near Leeds, officials announced Monday.

Deputies found the marijuana - with an estimated street value of $3.5
million - hidden in a trailer load of beets being shipped from Texas.
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"Our drug dogs hit on it right away," said sheriff's Sgt. Randy Christian.

Jose DeLeon, 44, of Lansing, Mich., is charged with trafficking
marijuana. He is being held without bond in the Jefferson County jail.

Christian said DeLeon, known in the drug trafficking business as a
"mule," is not cooperating with investigators, refusing to reveal to
whom he was delivering the drugs.

"I guess prison doesn't frighten them as bad as these thug drug
dealers who threaten their life or their families' lives," Christian
said. "To them, prison seems to be their best option."

Authorities in February 2006 confiscated a record 2,000 pounds of
marijuana valued at $4.1 million, also during a traffic stop on
Interstate 20 near Leeds.

"It's a cat-and-mouse game," Christian said. "We trap one mouse and
there's another rat ready to take his place."