A tractor-trailer hauling oranges from California to Long Island was stopped in New Jersey, where authorities discovered the truck’s cargo also contained roughly 6,400 pounds of cannabis products valued at more than $28 million.
The bust was made March 12 at an Interstate 78 weigh station in Greenwich Township, the Warren County prosecutor’s office confirmed Friday. It was during a routine inspection of the vehicle that the New Jersey State Police Mobile Safe Freight Unit noticed a dozen pallets in the truck’s trailer loaded with cardboard boxes that didn’t match the packaging used for the oranges.
Those boxes reportedly contained 3.2 tons of hydroponic marijuana and several thousand packages of cannabis products. The truck’s manifest only listed a shipment of oranges, authorities said.
Ruben Rodriguez, 53, and Jose Santa Cruz Cheno, 59 — both of Hermosillo, Mexico — were taken into custody upon the discovery. Cops said both suspects are properly documented and are in the United States legally.
The men have been charged with marijuana possession, possession with intent to distribute, and conspiracy to distribute marijuana. They potentially face up to 20 years in prison.
They appeared for a detention hearing Thursday at the Warren County Courthouse in Belvidere. They were ordered to be held at Warren County Jail until trial.
https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/03/22/weed-seized-new-jersey-long-island-orange-truck/
