Police seize 148 lbs. of marijuana on I-40

Hazen, Arkansas – On the I-40, you never know what you might be passing. Officers seized a whole trunk load of cocaine in Hazen on Saturday, and the entire incident was shown on live television.

148 pounds of marijuana were weighed by the department. The vehicle was initially stopped for following too closely, according to Chief Bradley Taylor, but her odd responses and a developing odor turned what should have been a warning into a Class A Felony arrest.

“We pop the trunk and, yeah, it’s all full of marijuana, but we don’t know. It’s like a Christmas present. When you unwrap it Christmas morning, you don’t know what you’re going to get. It could be marijuana, it could be meth amphetamines. It could be fentanyl, cocaine,” Taylor said.

Body and dash cameras capture the fully-loaded skunk in the trunk.

According to Chief Taylor, the massive amount of marijuana was the most the Hazen Police Department had ever collected in a single stop.

K-9 When the driver noticed the trunk was open after Officer Bosco had alerted other officers, she reacted quickly.

“It’s not mine,” she said.

“Did you drive it?”, Taylor asked.

“Yeah, but it’s not mine,” she replied.

She was informed by Taylor that in Arkansas, if you drive while in possession of it, you will be charged.

She was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver because she was in possession of the puff substance.

Interstates 40 from Oklahoma and 30 from Texas join from Little Rock to Memphis, and according to Chief Bradley Taylor, they have so far this year resulted in the seizure of almost 750 pounds of illegal drugs in the bottleneck.

“We’ve got these here, and this is probably one out of 1,000 that drove by,” Taylor said.

In just two traffic stops throughout the month of July, the Arkansas State Police removed drugs worth more than $8.5M from Interstate 40.

As of the time of this report, the government has not provided the year-round figures we requested.

Because what was planned to be one weekend of coverage on the television program On Patrol: Live stretched into three weekends, Hazen’s most recent seizure is generating notice far beyond the boundaries of the state.

Arkansas has been chosen as one of the live agencies for Hazen’s high-speed pursuits on I-40, small-town interactions, and hilarity, at least until the show’s next break in filming live content. And who can predict what they will find next?

“I guess the nation likes Southern policing,” Taylor said.

He noted that charges of marijuana trafficking require 500 pounds of the drug.