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Police: Suspects Tried To Buy 146 Pounds Of Pot With Boat, Truck Titles

POSTED: 2:44 pm EDT May 14, 2008
UPDATED: 5:57 pm EDT May 14, 2008

Four people are in custody in connection with a major marijuana bust in Lake County. But this time, instead of buying marijuana, undercover agents were selling the drug. What's also unusual is how the suspects tried to pay for the pot.


ARCHIVE: Read Recent Marijuana-Related Reports

Investigators said four men tried to buy 146 pounds of pot with cash and the titles to a boat and a truck. It happened in the parking lot of the Winn Dixie in Okahumpka (see map), where undercover agents made the big sale.

"The agents actually brought with them 146 pounds of marijuana in the trunk of an undercover vehicle," said Sgt. John Herrell, Lake County Sheriff's Office.

It was $150,000 worth of dope that deputies said the accused drug traffickers could not resist.

"These four that were arrested actually were in the process of loading the marijuana into their vehicle when the SWAT team came in and apprehended them all," Herrell said.

In exchange for the pot, the suspects paid $20,000 in cash and handed over the pink slips to a catering truck and a 24-foot fishing boat. Agents said the "assets" are part of a highly-organized drug ring operating across Central Florida for the last two years.

Detectives said one of the ringleaders is 42-year-old Walter Rodriguez, who is in the U.S. illegally from Columbia. He's already been deported once and now the Feds intend to send him back again.

Meanwhile, undercover agents have a successful new method. In addition to posing as drug buyers, they pose as drug dealers and the marijuana will be useful bait to trap more traffickers down the road.

The seized boat will be auctioned off and the sheriff's office and the other police agencies that took part in the bust can keep the money. They'll also split the cash the suspects paid for the marijuana.


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