State police make another large marijuana bust on turnpike in Westmoreland County
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For the third time since April, state troopers on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Westmoreland County stopped a driver for traffic violations and ended up seizing more than 100 pounds of marijuana.
Chui Jiang of Oklahoma City and Guangzhang Ye of San Antonio, both 41, were charged with manufacture, delivery and possession of a controlled substance after troopers say they discovered more than 200 pounds inside Jiang’s SUV on Thursday.
District Judge Jason Buczak ordered Jiang and Ye, both natives of China, held in the county prison after they failed to post $500,000 bond each.
Trooper Jake Goga reported that, about 11 a.m., he noticed Ye was unsafely changing lanes and then traveling too closely to another vehicle between mile markers 86 and 90 eastbound in Donegal Township.
When Goga approached the 2010 Chevrolet SUV Ye was driving to obtain information, Goga reported in court documents he noticed “a strong odor of marijuana was emanating from the vehicle.”
A search of the vehicle located the packaged bundles of marijuana, he said in court documents.
On July 21, troopers arrested two central Pennsylvania men in New Stanton after they found about 500 pounds of suspected marijuana inside a pickup truck, according to court papers.
Chad Ryan Stephens, 31, of Cumberland County, and Sean Michael McCaleb, 32, of Perry County, are awaiting hearings on multiple drug offenses in that case.
State police said McCaleb failed to use a turn signal at 12:20 a.m. while merging from the turnpike onto Interstate 70 westbound near the New Stanton exit, according to court papers. Troopers stopped the GMC Sierra and could smell marijuana coming from the pickup, which led to a search.
In a separate case April 20, troopers pulled over an SUV that Vavdeep Singh Chahal, 30, of Lorton, Va., was driving near mile marker 75 eastbound in Mt. Pleasant Township for driving too closely and speeding and found more than 100 pounds of suspected marijuana.
Chahal refused to let troopers search the Chevrolet Tahoe after police said they noticed indicators of criminal activity. A police dog indicated drugs were present in the SUV and investigators found the marijuana in three duffel bags, according to court papers.
Chahal is awaiting trial, according to court records.
With the proliferation of medical marijuana in Pennsylvania, and marijuana legalized in other states, one might think marijuana smuggling might decline. But that is not so, says Westmoreland County Detective Tony Marcocci.
He said there’s still a profit to be made by smugglers.
“It’s being sold on the black market. Growers can bypass the required processing costs they have associated with medical marijuana and make twice as much money,” Marcocci said.
Marcocci said he did not participate in Thursday’s seizure, but in other recent ones he has participated in, the grade of marijuana investigators find is “really potent… really high quality.”
“They can sell it for $3,500 to $4,000 a pound on the black market and make a lot more profit,” Marcocci said.
Jiang and Ye are scheduled for preliminary hearings on Sept. 25.