Idaho State police make large pot bust

Idaho State Police officials say troopers made the biggest marijuana bust in the agency’s known history after a semi-truck allegedly filled with nearly 7,000 pounds of marijuana plants was stopped between Boise and Mountain Home.

ISP spokesman Tim Marsano said Tuesday the truck from Portland, Oregon was stopped on Jan. 24 as part of a routine, random commercial vehicle safety inspection. The driver’s bill of lading – a document that details the cargo in the shipment – said the trailer was carrying 31 bags of hemp.

Marsano says the trooper detected a strong odor of marijuana during the inspection, and so opened one of the bags and performed a field test which showed the plant to be marijuana.

The plants have been sent to an independent lab for further testing.

“This is the largest Idaho State Police trafficking seizure of this type in any present-day trooper’s memory,” said Colonel Kedrick Wills, ISP director.

For comparison, here are the ISP seizure amounts from 2014-2018:

2014 – 319 lbs. 2015 – 458 lbs. 2016 – 507 lbs. 2017 – 1,375 lbs. 2018 – 2131 lbs.