MEXICAN POLICE SEIZE MASSIVE MARIJUANA SHIPMENT

MEXICO CITY, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Mexican police on Monday seized nearly
four metric tons of marijuana when they searched a truck with federal
government license plates, prosecutors said.

The Attorney General's Office (PGR) in northwestern Sinaloa state said
a suspected drug trafficker was arrested after the seizure of 950
packets of marijuana weighing 3.95 metric tons near the Pacific coast
resort of Mazatlan.

"It's worth mentioning that this is the second biggest seizure of
cannabis by prosecutors in this state so far this year," the PGR said
in a statement.

Sinaloa is one of the heartlands of Mexico's drug underworld and the
birthplace of many of its most famous capos. A shrine in the state
capital of Culiacan is dedicated to a turn-of-the-century Robin Hood
figure, Jesus Malverde, revered by drug lords as well as small-time
thieves.

The state is also a major marijuana producer and transshipment point
for other narcotics heading north to Mexico's 2,000-mile (3,200-km)
land border with the United States.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry