LITTLE ROCK (5-8) Officers from the Arkansas Highway Police Division of the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD) have uncovered another significant shipment of illegal drugs, according to AHTD Director Dan Flowers.

     On Friday, May 4, 2007, a tractor-trailer rig was stopped at the Highway Police station on Interstate 40 at Alma.  During an inspection of the truck, officers from the Arkansas Highway Police discovered several bundles of marijuana weighing about 927 pounds with a  street value of nearly $700,000. 

     The driver was identified as Elmer Mejia, age 36, of Los Angeles, California.  It is believed the truck, transporting a load of produce, was traveling from California to New York.  Mejia and a passenger, Ricardo Valle of Phoenix, Arizona, were arrested at the scene for Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Deliver and are being held at the Crawford County Detention Center.   Mejia and Valle were scheduled for arraignment in Crawford County Circuit Court on Monday, May 7, 2007.   

     This is the second drug seizure at the Alma Weigh Station in less than two weeks.  On April 26, the Arkansas Highway Police seized 2,300 pounds of marijuana.