PHOENIX — A long-term investigation by the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Border Patrol yielded results Wednesday.
PCSO arrested five people with 482 pounds of marijuana in Phoenix. The bust was part of a 14-month investigation by PCSO’s Anti-Smuggling Unit and Operation Stone Garden.
The arrests came after the Pinal County Board of Supervisors last week voted unanimously to continue using funds from the federal Operation Stone Garden program and the Pima County Board of Supervisors decided to refuse them because of changes to the way U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been operating under the Trump administration.
The five suspects are being charged with conspiracy, transporting marijuana, possession of marijuana, possession for sale of marijuana, facilitation, participating and assisting a criminal syndicate, possession of marijuana in a drug-free school zone and possession of drug paraphernalia.
PCSO and Border Patrol agents had been investigating a drug-trafficking organization that reportedly moved marijuana from Mexico using scouts on mountaintops to help backpackers navigate through the desert and avoid detection by law enforcement.
Some of the individuals arrested were wearing carpet shoes to cover their tracks as they moved through the desert and make them more difficult to track. The group used predetermined pickup points along the Interstate 8 and I-10 corridor, from where the drugs were taken to Phoenix and then moved across the country.
The home connected to the bust was in a mobile home community at 3744 Grand Ave. in Phoenix.
Leonidas Nieblas Leyva, Salome Gil, Luis Luna, Hector Cruz-Rojo and Casear Perez were arrested.
Over several months, detectives have seized weapons, more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana and several vehicles as part of the investigation.
Police discover meth
in car of sleepy driver
MARICOPA — Police have arrested a man accused of possessing various drugs with intent to sell.
Shortly after 1 a.m. Friday officers were dispatched on a welfare check at the Circle K store on North John Wayne Parkway. According to police reports, the department received calls that there was a man unconscious in the driver’s seat of his vehicle.
When officers arrived they found Nicholas Amado slumped over the center console in his car. An officer pounded on the window, and Amado woke up.
Reports state the officer smelled a strong odor of marijuana when Amado opened his door, so the officer asked him to exit the vehicle.
When Amado got out of his car, the officer noticed two $20 bills on the driver’s side floorboard. He advised Amado to pick them up so they wouldn’t blow away.
Amado noticed a large wad of money under the driver’s seat.
The officer said he was going to conduct a search of the vehicle, and Amado told him there was marijuana in the ashtray. However, during the search, the officer also found a plastic bag with methamphetamine.
The officer then tried to arrest Amado, but he pulled away and began running from the officer. Even after the officer restrained him, Amado reportedly continued to resist arrest.
Upon searching further, officers located various drugs and drug paraphernalia, including more than 36 grams of meth, about 2 grams of marijuana, a pill bottle containing oxycodone and a digital scale.Officers also found a .22-caliber rifle and a .40-caliber pistol, both with ammunition.
Amado is being charged with resisting arrest, possession of dangerous drugs, possession of dangerous drugs for sale, transport of dangerous drugs for sale, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
— Bethany Blundell, Staff Writer
1 killed in 2 accidents that closed SR 347
MARICOPA — North- and southbound lanes on State Route 347 were closed Wednesday after two accidents occurred at the same location.
According to the Arizona Department of Transportation, one crash was fatal and involved a male riding an ATV who struck a Ford pickup truck.
That accident occurred at 12:35 p.m. in the northbound lanes of SR 347 at milepost 161.
There was a secondary minor-injury collision at the same location.
credit:pinalcentral.com