Prosecutors: Men Busted With U-Haul Carrying 800 Pounds Of Marijuana In Queens
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Two men were arrested and charged this week, after more than 800 pounds of marijuana were found in a rented truck that was pulled over for an illegal lane change near John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens.
Dean Webb of Tampa and Michael Laico of Houston were arrested Wednesday on felony marijuana possession charges. Attorneys for the men did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Thursday.
The office of Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said members of the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force were at 182nd Street and Rockaway Boulevard on Tuesday afternoon, when they saw a U-Haul truck with Arizona license plates move from one lane of traffic to the other without signaling.
After pulling over the vehicle, an officer came up to the driver's side window and spoke to Webb – who was driving alone – who said he was bringing "this" to a man named Scott and followed up with the comment, "Let's do this," prosecutors said.
Webb gave the officers consent to search the U-Haul, in which they found five large cardboard-type crates sitting on wooden pallets that reeked of marijuana, prosecutors said. They turned out to have more than 800 pounds of marijuana wrapped in plastic bags inside, prosecutors said.
Webb allegedly received a call from the man named Scott while he was being detained, and told him: "I have the package. Where do you want me to take it?" "Scott" allegedly said he saw three people stop Webb, and Webb told him his GPS was broken and he did not know where to go, prosecutors said.
In response, "Scott" said he saw the U-Haul and would be right there, prosecutors said.
A man wearing a hoodie walked up to the parking lot area near Rockaway and Guy R. Brewer boulevards where the U-Haul was parked, prosecutors said. The man identified himself as "Scott" when asked by the officers, prosecutors said.
At first, Webb said he did not know "Scott," but when police mentioned that "Scott's" clothes were in the U-Haul, Webb admitted that he did know the man and was bringing him the marijuana, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said "Scott's" name was not really "Scott," but Michael Vincent Laico. He allegedly told officers: "This is what me and Dean do. We're done this before many times. When we get the order to pick up, we rent a storage locker, rent a truck and go to the place to pick up the stuff. Then we store the stuff in the storage until for someone else to pick and get paid."
District Attorney Brown said this was the second largest marijuana bust in Queens in the last six weeks.
"According to the charges, a minor traffic infraction is the cause for these two individuals to be facing serious drug charges and lengthy incarceration," Brown said in a news release. "The message couldn't be clearer: drug dealers should steer clear of Queens County."
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