Over 1,300 pounds of marijuana seized from commercial vehicle in Phoenix

On Thursday, February, 3, 2011, a DPS Highway Patrol Officer assigned to Commercial Vehicle Enforcement stopped a commercial tractor pulling a 53’ box trailer. The truck was traveling on Interstate 17 in the Phoenix metro area when the officer pulled the truck over and conducted an inspection of the driver and truck. An inspection and subsequent search of the load revealed several wooden boxes loaded with bales of Marijuana, underneath an expired load of juice. The total weight of the marijuana was 1,308 pounds. The driver, Wendell M. Stoddart, 45, of New Hartford, Conn, was booked into the Maricopa County Jail on charges of possession and transportation of Marijuana for sale and illegal control of an enterprise. The drugs and commercial vehicle were seized.