MEBANE, N.C. — Authorities found a car trunk jam-packed full of marijuana after a traffic stop on Interstate 40 on Monday night, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said, leading to marijuana trafficking charges against a pair of California women.
About 9:45 p.m., Orange County deputies stopped a Toyota Camry that was headed east on the I-40 near mile-marker 157 for a traffic violation, deputies said. Deputies then asked for a K-9, and the Mebane police assisted with their dog.
“The K-9 alerted to the odor of illegal drugs coming from the vehicle,” the Orange County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a news release.
A search of the vehicle turned up 130 pounds of marijuana, the release states. The drugs have a wholesale value of about $500,000, deputies said.
Ruth Paez Diaz, 46, of San Jose, California, and Briann Marie Diaz, 26, of San Francisco, California, are each charged with two counts of trafficking marijuana.
Their bonds were each set at $100,000 secured.
