-from freep.com-

By Cecil Angel

Police seized about 1,400 pounds of marijuana in two separate traffic stops on I-94, one in Sylvan Township in Washtenaw County and the other in Emmett Township Calhoun County.

The Sylvan Township drug bust occurred today during a traffic stop on east bound I-94 near Pierce Road. State Police seized 493 pounds of pot and arrested a 44-year-old woman from Charleston, W. Va. And a 26-year-old man from Detroit, police said. They were traveling from New Mexico.

In Emmett Township, police officers made a huge discovery while examining a pickup truck seized last week — about 900 pounds of marijuana in the back of the truck.

Emmett Township officer John Lawson said the marijuana was found stacked inside a wood chip panel on the back of a flat bedded pickup truck that was seized Thursday when the driver was spotted speeding on eastbound I-94 in Calhoun County. Emmett Township is on the east border of Battle Creek.

The driver, a 50-year-old resident from Rio Rancho, N.M., whose name is not being released, was stopped for a speeding violation.

Police said the officer who stopped the driver contacted members of the Narcotics Interdictions Complaints Enforcement (NICE), who discovered several warrants for the driver’s arrest, ranging from trafficking and distribution of narcotics to smuggling of illegal immigrants.

The man was arrested on those warrants while a preliminary search of the vehicle was conducted by NICE.

Police said the driver faces new federal narcotics charges after lead officers seized his vehicle and transported it to the Calhoun County Jail late Thanksgiving morning.
The marijuana was found yesterday by the police department’s only tracking dog, Pako.

Emmett Township Police were assisted by agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration who are now handling the case for additional investigation.