Bust yields 2,048 lbs. of drugs
By Staff
Jason Houston FCT Managing Editor
First they found the pots…and inside, they found pot.
Hidden inside clay pots, stacked four deep inside a 53-foot-long tractor-trailer, a combined law enforcement team discovered 2,048 lbs. of marijuana in Russellville Monday, believed to be the largest drug bust ever in Franklin County.
The street value of the marijuana is estimated between $2 million and $2.5 million, according to Russellville Police Chief Chris Hargett.
The event took place late Monday evening in the parking lot of a warehouse near the intersection of Lawrence Street and U.S. 43 in Russellville, across Lawrence Street on the same side of U.S. 43 from Town Hill truck stop.
Law enforcement agents blocked both ends of the parking lot while a combined force searched the tractor-trailer, which arrived in Russellville from an unknown destination, but presumably from another country, given the participation of U.S. Customs agents in the case.
Hargett said his department was contacted Sunday by agents with the Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) unit who asked for the RPD's help in a drug investigation.
Hargett said the agents told him the investigation involved a truck loaded with narcotics possibly headed to Russellville.
The department, along with agents from other law enforcement organizations, assisted in a complex surveillance operation of the truck and later assisted in apprehending four Hispanic males, who were detained and taken into custody by ICE agents.
The men were transported to Birmingham, but it was not known at press time what if any charges had been brought against them. Hargett said the men could face federal drug trafficking charges. The mens' names have not been released.
Seven agencies assisted in the case, including the RPD, Franklin County Sheriff's Department, the District Attorney's office, ICE, Alabama Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Public Safety and the Drug Enforcement Agency.
The truck, owned by Werner Enterprises, an Omaha, Neb.-based company, was filled with clay pots, most of which contained compacted marijuana in 4-5 lb. bricks. Hargett said 68 of the pots contained drugs.
Hargett said the drugs were probably going to be stored in Russellville and shipped to other locations.
The investigation into the case remains open from all the agencies involved.
