Trucker nabbed with 275 pounds of marijuana on board

The Trucker News Services

3/20/2008

BUFFALO, N.Y. — An Oshawa, Canada, trucker hauling aircraft parts is in a Buffalo, N.Y., jail today after he was caught allegedly hauling 275 pounds of marijuana in his cargo.

Gordon Sample, 39, is charged with importation and possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance.

U.S. border officials said Monday's seizure brings the total of marijuana seized from Toronto-bound trucks crossing the border to more than $10 million in the past year.

U.S. Customs said it has arrested two Toronto-area truckers a month for smuggling drugs.

In this case, Sample was arrested while taking a load to New Jersey. He was crossing at the Peace Bridge when his rig was examined with gamma-ray technology.

Police from both sides of the border are now targeting crime rings using trucking companies for cross-border smuggling.

"We have seen an increase in the smuggling of marijuana in the last five years," Kevin Corsaro of U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Wednesday. "We believe organized crime may be behind the smuggling."

Corsaro said officers found 280 vacuum-sealed bags of hydroponic marijuana.