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Last updated on Thursday, December 8, 2011
(FORTVILLE)(WISH) - A traffic stop Tuesday afternoon led Indiana State Police to an unexpected discovery: 185 pounds of marijuana, stuffed inside music equipment.
ISP Trooper Tyler Painter said the driver was pulled Tuesday after following too closely behind other drivers - a leading cause of crashes in Indiana. ISP said the driver was stopped on eastbound Interstate 70, west of Ind. 9.
Once the pickup truck with a camper top had pulled over, ISP said Senior Trooper Brad Smith at the scene smelled the odor of raw marijuana, and investigated further.
Inside the truck were several speakers, which appeared to have been tampered with, Painter said. Inside, ISP found about 185 pounds of what Painter described as high-quality marijuana, packed into bags.
Each bag was worth an estimated $5,000, ISP said, meaning the entire stash was worth more than $920,000. ISP said the haul was en route from California to Maine.
"This is definitely the largest amount of marijuana I have ever seen," Painter said.
The driver, Joseph Ground, 29, Hollis, Maine, was arrested on preliminary charges of possession of marijuana over 10 pounds and dealing marijuana over 10 pounds, both Class C felonies. He was being held Tuesday night in the Hancock County Jail.
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