Updated Apr 30, 2017, 9:37 pm Originally posted Apr 30, 2017, 3:08 pm
Border Patrol agents stopped a hearse Saturday night north of Sierra Vista and discovered more than 67 pounds of marijuana worth more than $33,000 concealed in a casket, with bags of manure used to cover the smell, authorities said. Despite the fragrant cover-up, a BP drug dog alerted to the hidden drugs.
Agents from the Willcox station were working at the immigration checkpoint on State Route 80 and noticed the white hearse traveling north of Tombstone. Agents decided to investigate further, and stopped the hearse at the intersection of Highway 82 and Highway 90 in Whestone, said a spokesman with the Tucson Sector's Public Affairs Office.
After interviewing the driver, and finding "several inconsistencies" in the driver's story, the agents requested a Border Patrol canine unit. When the dog arrived, it alerted to "odor" emanating from the hearse.
Agents searched the hearse, and uploaded the casket, discovering dozens of marijuana bricks, along with with several bags of manure in an "attempt to mask the odor of the marijuana," the spokesman said.
The driver, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen whose name was not released by BP, was arrested for narcotics smuggling, the spokesman said.
The drugs, the hearse, and the casket were seized.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly noted the intersecting highways where the hearse was stopped.
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