New Jersey State Police arrested and charged a truck driver after they discovered hundreds of dollars worth of marijuana products during a commercial motor vehicle inspection.
On June 14, a trooper stopped 37 year old California-based truck driver Storm Zhu on eastbound I-78 at the truck weigh station in Greenwich Township to conduct a safety inspection, according to a news release from New Jersey State Police.
During the inspection, the trooper “detected evidence of criminal activity and located several boxes throughout the load that were not consistent with the legitimate cargo.”
The trooper searched the boxes and discovered 121 pounds of marijuana and other THC products.
Zhu was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance and possession with intent to distribute. He was booked into the Warren County Correctional Center.
The seized marijuana and THC products are valued at $850,000.
“This seizure was a result of the diligent work of the New Jersey State Police Mobile Safe Freight Training Unit, which is comprised of highly-trained troopers who are not just committed to commercial vehicle safety inspections; they are conducting interdiction operations to identify traffickers using commercial vehicles to transport illegal goods,” said Colonel Patrick J. Callahan, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “These inspections are not only important in ensuring the safety of the commercial vehicles on our roadways, but they also serve to preserve the integrity of businesses operating legitimately to transport goods across our state.”
“I want to commend and thank Trp. Seidler for his excellent police work leading to this arrest. Warren County is unique as it is crossed bisected by two major Interstate highways Rt. 78 and Rt. 80 which provide direct access to New York City and the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area. These Interstate highways provide a direct distribution route for legitimate goods as well as for illegal drugs and other criminal activity. Clearly criminal distribution activities are taking place on these highways and the Warren County Prosecutor’s office looks forward to partnering with the New Jersey State Police to strengthen enforcement and in developing new strategies and programs to secure our Interstate highways to eradicate criminal distribution activity,” said Warren County Prosecutor Jim Pfeiffer.