TRAFFIC STOPS YIELD DRUG BUST

GROOM - One traffic stop in Amarillo led to another traffic stop in Groom
on Tuesday, which resulted in a pot bust for a Department of Public Safety
trooper.

On Interstate 40 west of Amarillo, Trooper Lucinda Russell stopped an
eastbound 2000 Hyundai for a traffic violation, Trooper Gary Davis said.
She noticed a 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis seemed to be following the Hyundai.

During the traffic stop, Russell did not find any drugs but received
information that some might be in the Mercury, Davis said. She placed the
two men, both from Illinois, in the Hyundai under arrest for drug charges.
They were arraigned in Potter County and later transferred to Carson County.

Davis said he stopped the Mercury for following a tractor-trailer too
closely while eastbound on I-40 near Groom around noon.

After pulling the Mercury over, Davis said he wrote a warning for the
traffic violation for the driver, Cheryl Lord, 26, of Illinois.

"I asked for consent to search and found marijuana, about 54 pounds, in the
trunk," he said.

The street value of the marijuana is about $1,000 a pound, Davis said.

Lord was placed under arrest for possession of marijuana over 50 pounds and
under 2,000 pounds, a third-degree felony, Davis said. She was taken to
Carson County Jail. The two men in the Hyundai were placed in the same jail
later that day for conspiracy charges.

Lord was traveling with her son, who is about five years old, Davis said.
The child was turned over to Child Protective Services.

Lord was believed to be on her way from Albuquerque to Oklahoma City, he said.