Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office deputies seized nearly 1,000 pounds of marijuana in the desert south of Gila Bend and were able to arrest two of the suspected smugglers.
The sheriff’s office said Saturday evening that another suspected smuggler is still on the loose.
Mark Andrew Huffine and Martin Aguirre were arrested after deputies responded to reports that drug smugglers were traveling through the desert south of Gila Bend.
The sheriff’s office said deputies encountered Huffine, Aguirre and a third suspect driving ATVs and a Ford utility box truck. All vehicles were reportedly loaded with bundles of marijuana.
Huffine and Aguirre and were subsequently booked into the Fourth Avenue Jail, and the marijuana and vehicles were seized.
“We will continue to crack down on major drug traffickers,” Sheriff Joe Arpaio said in a statement. “In the near future, we will be concentrating on street-level drug dealers.”