Border Patrol: More than $5.2 million in pot seized over weekend in Valley

U.S. Border Patrol agents reportedly seized more than $5.2 million worth of marijuana in several incidents over the Veterans Day weekend.

Agents from the Rio Grande Valley Sector on Friday saw people loading bundles of the narcotics into a pickup truck near the Rio Grande south of Guadalupe Flores Road in Sullivan City, according to a news release.

Though the driver successfully fled near an abandoned home and escaped arrest, agents recovered 930 pounds of marijuana — estimated at nearly $750,000 — after pursuing the vehicle as it traveled north from the river, according to the release.

On Saturday near Escobares, a helicopter helped track down a Chevrolet Tahoe, which suspected smugglers had left with nearly 700 pounds of marijuana. That seizure had an estimated value of more than $540,000.

Other seizures yielded more than 6,600 pounds from Friday to Sunday, according to the release.

—

Monitor staff writer Neal Morton compiled this report.