Small Town News

Pierce DPS makes major weed seizure

---

A Pierce-based state trooper made that agency's second big marijuana bust in a week Saturday, seizing more than 1,000 pounds of the drug after a short chase.

Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Alfred Ochoa Jr. was on patrol along U.S. 59 near FM 1160 in Louise Feb. 20 at around 7 p.m. when he tried to stop a 2005 Ford pickup for speeding and driving on the shoulder.

"When he approached the pickup, the driver sped away," DPS Sgt. David Chauvin said.

Ochoa pursued the truck, registered to an owner in Roma, for about two miles toward Hillje when the driver intentionally drove off the highway.

"He went through the ditch and stopped next to the railroad tracks," Chauvin said. "The driver fied on foot and was not located."

In the bed of the pickup, toolbox and cargo area, troopers found 124 bundles of marijuana totalling 1,222 pounds. The drugs would have been worth $397,150 in Houston, Chauvin said. Investigators are still determining whether they will seize the pickup.

Assisting Ochoa and Chauvin were DPS Lt. Danny Terronez, Troopers Jose Mena, Glenn Taft and Michael Hubenak, El Campo Police officers, Wharton County Sheriffs deputies and the DPS' Criminal Investigations Division.

U.S. 59 is a well known corridor for both drugs and money derived from criminal enterprises.

On Feb. 13, Trooper Jose Mena tried to stop a pickup along U.S. 59 in El Campo. That vehicle contained 41 bundles of marijuana totaling 694 pounds and worth $225,550. Two people were arrested in that case.

Pierce station troopers pulled more than $1.83 million in narcotics and drug-related cash off U.S. 59 in 2009.



Copyright 2010 East Bernard Express, East Bernard, Texas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2010 East Bernard Express East Bernard, Texas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

More from East Bernard Express