Authorities seize more than 800 pounds of marijuana

PHARR —A drug smuggler abandoned a load of marijuana during a police chase earlier this week.

The man was driving a van when a San Juan police officer pulled him over during a routine traffic stop, officials said. After pulling over, the smuggler took off running and led the officer on a foot pursuit.

A drug dog sniffed out several boxes of compressed marijuana — which weighed about 850 pounds altogether — inside the vehicle.

No further details were available Friday afternoon.

On Tuesday, authorities seized half a ton of marijuana near La Joya. The 1,227 pounds of marijuana were found inside an older model Mercury Grand Marquis that had been submerged in the Rio Grande since mid-October after smugglers plunged the vehicle into the river during a highspeed chase, according to a news release issued Wednesday by the U.S. Border Patrol.

That same day, a group of smugglers abandoned a drug load north of Alamo. An anonymous tip led Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputies to the 400 block of Cherokee Drive about 7:30 p.m. A caller told authorities that someone was unloading marijuana bundles into an abandoned travel trailer.

When deputies located the trailer, they seized 12 marijuana bundles but they did not find any people at the location.

No arrests were made in connection with the drug seizures.

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Monitor staff writer Ana Ley compiled this report.