3 TONS OF POT SEIZED IN N.M, 2 ARRESTED

GALLUP, N.M. - A problem with the paperwork of a truck driver at the
Gallup port of entry led state inspectors to the discovery of nearly
three tons of marijuana, officials said Tuesday.

A Motor Transportation Division inspector who noticed the paperwork
problem Saturday called in a transportation division police officer,
and they conducted a search.

The men discovered bundles of marijuana under a small load of rotting
potatoes, the Department of Public Safety said.

The marijuana was weighed in Tuesday at 5,800 pounds, said Peter
Olson, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety in Santa Fe.
The DPS is the parent organization of the transportation division.

Authorities have not determined where the marijuana was headed, "but
they suspect somewhere in the Midwest, at least as an intermediary
stage," he said. "They typically go to large metro areas."

The estimated street value was $8 million to $10 million, Olson
said.

Two people in the truck were taken into custody and the case was
turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.