PHOTOS: Arkansas Highway Police checks along I-40 find 600 pounds of pot

This photo, courtesy of the Arkansas Highway Police, shows the cache of marijuana and cannabis oil confiscated Monday from a truck at the Alma weigh station on Interstate 40.
This photo, courtesy of the Arkansas Highway Police, shows the cache of marijuana and cannabis oil confiscated Monday from a truck at the Alma weigh station on Interstate 40.

Searches of two tractor-trailer rigs a week apart at the Arkansas Highway Police weigh station on Interstate 40 near Alma yielded nearly 600 pounds of marijuana and three arrests, the Arkansas Department of Transportation said.

The latest bust happened early Monday during a safety inspection of a rig traveling from Mira Loma, Calif., to Oak Ridge, Tenn., according to its bill of lading. The driver was arrested after officers discovered 340 pounds of marijuana and 2,340 units of cannabis oil, according to a news release.

The other discovery happened April 22 when the Arkansas Highway Police, a division of the Transportation Department, tried to stop a tractor-trailer rig, which failed to stop until a pursuit began, the department said in a separate release.

The driver returned the rig to the weigh station, where it was inspected. After the inspection, the driver consented to a search, which yielded 201 bundles of marijuana weighing about 232 pounds. The driver and another person traveling on the truck were arrested.

The seizures and arrests coming so close together didn't reflect an increase in enforcement, a department spokesman said.

"Drug interdiction has been a priority of Arkansas Highway Police for years and will continue to be," Britni Padilla-Dumas said.

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ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

More than 230 pounds of marijuana was recently seized by authorities in western Arkansas, according to the Arkansas Department of Transportation.

Danny Straessle, another department spokesman, noted that the Arkansas Highway Police has seized 1,011 pounds of marijuana as well as 3,340 vials of cannabis oil in five separate seizures at the Crawford County weigh station since Nov. 17.

Monday's seizure was the biggest of the five.

Officers conducting a safety inspection on a truck at the weigh station on I-40 east at 12:50 a.m. "had reason to believe that portions of the freight being transported were not legitimate," the department said.

It said the driver, Alan Ngo, 45, of Fountain Valley, Calif., consented to a search. Ngo later was taken to the Crawford County jail and charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, possession of drug paraphernalia and having no record of his duty status as a commercial driver.

The truck was operated by OSO Trucking Inc. of Westminster, Calif.

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A map showing the location of the Alma weigh station

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Metro on 05/03/2018

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