April 6, 2006
This just in: $1M in drugs worth more than pickup
In a classic case of bad headline writing, KPRC brings us the story Drug Bust Worth More Than Pickup It Was Found In, about nearly $1 million worth of marijuana that was found in the back of a Ford pickup. The drug bust happened last night near Scarsdale and Beamer when a Harris County deputy pulled over the driver of the pickup and noticed he was acting nervous. Turns out the reason for the nervousness was 683 pounds of pot hidden in two air conditioner crates in the truck's bed.
"The driver was real nervous the whole time. My understanding is that when he was out of the vehicle, he kept looking back over his shoulder towards those crates," Precinct 2 Detective Rick Holloman said. "When the officer asked about the air conditioners, he didn't acknowledge there were crates even in the back of the truck … claims he didn't work for an air conditioning company. He didn't know how the crates got to the back of the truck."
Ah yes, the old "someone put two giant crates full of marijuana in the back of my truck while I wasn't looking" defense. The driver was taken into custody, but it's not clear yet what charges he could face.
There's a discrepancy between the value of the drugs: KPRC says they were worth $1 million, but KTRK thinks it's more like $800,000. By KPRC's estimate, the pot was worth $1,464 a pound; by KTRK's, $1,171. The pickup, incidentally, was only worth $795,000.



