OK County Deputies Find 162 Pounds Of Pot During Traffic Stop

The Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office arrested four people after finding 162 pounds of marijuana inside an SUV during traffic stop at Interstate 35 and Hefner Road.

On June 24, a deputy noticed a white Ford Excursion with Texas license plates straddling the road lines. The deputy pulled over the SUV and spoke with the driver, Ismael Maldonado, 21. The deputy said Maldonado provided conflicting information about his destination and what he and the three other people inside the SUV were doing.

The deputy said it also appeared someone had tampered with the vehicle's fuel tank. He deployed his drug-sniffing dog, and the K9 alerted him that there were narcotics in the SUV.

A team of deputies searched the vehicle and found three metal boxes inside the fuel tank. The boxes contained nine bundles of compressed marijuana.

Maldonado was arrested, along with Ismael Ramirez, 20; Yannet Munoz, 19; and Janet Mejia, 19. They were booked into the Oklahoma County jail for drug trafficking. All four are from El Paso, Texas.