Ohio troopers seize 300 pounds of marijuana

1/17/2010

DELTA, Ohio — An Irving, Texas, man was arrested on drug-related charges Saturday after troopers with the Swanton post of the Ohio Highway Patrol stopped his sport utility vehicle on the Ohio Turnpike and found 300 pounds of marijuana inside, Trooper Eric Stroud said.

Louis Sommers, 62, was taken to the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio pending a hearing in Fulton County Eastern District Court.

Troopers stopped the 2009 Chevrolet Suburban about 2:30 p.m. on the eastbound turnpike north of Delta. The state patrol learned of the vehicle earlier, as it entered Ohio from Indiana, because a license-plate reader at the border detected that the vehicle's Michigan tags were stolen, Trooper Stroud said.

The marijuana was found under a blanket in the vehicle's back cargo area.