Agents working an immigration checkpoint in southern Arizona said they stopped a hearse over the weekend and found 67 pounds of marijuana inside a mahogany coffin.
The multiple bricks of marijuana had an estimated street value of more than $33,000, Border Patrol officials said Monday.
The hearse carrying the casket was stopped Saturday evening on State Route 80 near Tombstone.
Agents said the driver – a 28-year-old US citizen – gave inconsistencies information and a canine unit was brought in to check the hearse.
The drug-smelling dogs alerted agents despite several bags of manure that had been placed inside the casket in an attempt to conceal the marijuana odor. The driver, whose name hasn’t been released, was arrested on suspicion of narcotics smuggling, Border Patrol officials said. (AP)
