•Shipment of six hollow concrete columns to mobile home southeast of Tabor City yields 171 “bricks” of high-grade Mexican marijuana.

By BOB HIGH
Staff Writer

Federal agents, supported by state and local law enforcement officers, seized 348 pounds of marijuana Tuesday evening outside the home of a Hispanic male living off Miller Road southeast of Tabor City.

The marijuana was in 171 two-pound “bricks” concealed in six hollow concrete columns shipped to the suspect’s home from Guadalajara, Mexico, according to Sheriff’s Drug Detective Sgt. Steve Worthington. (See photo Page 4-A)
“Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took the marijuana and the suspect to Wilmington. The man, whose name was not released to me, was jailed,” Worthington said.

The marijuana had an estimated wholesale value of $835,000, and a street value of more than $1.5 million if broken down into “dime-bag” size – a plastic baggie selling for $10.

Worthington provided the following information:
A few days ago, agents from DEA and ICE, acting on a tip, intercepted a package at a central delivery point in another state. They opened a portion of the package and confirmed that marijuana was inside.

The drugs were addressed to a Hispanic male – in this country illegally – they had been investigating for being involved in drug activity.

The federal agents contacted Worthington and SBI Agent Steve Smith and set up a controlled delivery Tuesday.

The group met at the Columbus County Airport and worked out details of the surveillance and delivery. A paneled delivery truck and forklift were obtained.

The State Highway Patrol provided two pilots and a helicopter that hovered near the targeted residence. Two undercover ICE agents drove the truck with the two large, crated packages to a singlewide mobile home – one of seven along Miller’s Farm Lane -- about six miles from Tabor City.

A Hispanic female accepted the columns, in two boarded crates weighing more than a ton each. Agents waited for a short time for possible arrival of the suspect male, but he didn’t show.

Agents began breaking open the concrete columns and found 28 two-pound bricks of marijuana – each wrapped in brown plastic – inside three of the columns. Two more columns had 29 packages inside, and the sixth contained 30 packages.

While the columns were being opened, the suspect arrived and was taken into custody.

The woman was not charged and was not taken to Wilmington.

“We’re certainly happy to be able to work with federal agencies on such cases, and I’m particularly pleased that this much marijuana is off the street.

“It’s very likely most of the marijuana would have wound up in the hands of Columbus County dealers, plus I suspect there would have been some distribution of the drugs to other nearby counties,” Sheriff Chris Batten said.

Worthington said the identity of the illegal alien and specific charges would be released by the federal agencies at an unknown date.