Cops Seize 1,000 Lbs. Of Marijuana

Officers Seize Marijuana



By John Lyon

times record • jlyon@swtimes.com






Authorities
seized more than 1,000 pounds of suspected marijuana in two traffic
stops on Interstate 40 in Crawford County on Sunday and Monday.






The
first stop occurred about 12:16 a.m. Sunday, when Van Buren police Cpl.
Mike Bowman stopped a Ford Ranger pickup between the 1- and 2-mile
markers of eastbound I-40, a police report states. Bowman stopped the
vehicle for speeding.






After Bowman’s
canine partner, Nero, alerted on the vehicle, Bowman conducted a search
and found a little more than 400 pounds of suspected marijuana in the
camper shell, according to the report.






The
driver, Patricia R. Avery, 55, of Virginia Beach, Va., was arrested on
suspicion of possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, possession
of drug paraphernalia, driving with an expired driver’s license and
having no proof of insurance.






At 1:26
a.m. Monday, Cpl. Olen Craig of the Arkansas State Police stopped a
pickup that was towing a trailer between the 4- and 5-mile markers of
eastbound I-40, according to a state police report. Craig stopped the
vehicle for having no license plate light on the pickup or the trailer.



After
receiving conflicting statements from the driver, Patrick Henry Alston,
40, and the passenger, Shannon Ivory Alston, 39, both of Littleton,
N.C., and after a drug-sniffing dog alerted on the trailer, Craig
conducted a search and found between 600 and 800 pounds of suspected
marijuana in hidden compartments under the trailer, the report states.


The Alstons were arrested on suspicion of possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.