Vallejo Man Pulled Over In Georgia, Deputies Find More Than $500K In Pot
Jonesboro, GA (Clayton News Daily) -- A California man is in the Clayton County Jail after sheriff's deputies say he was driving a rented truck with 220 pounds of marijuana worth more than half a million dollars Friday evening.
Mario Pereira Escobedo, 30, of Vallejo, Calif. is charged with trafficking marijuana, distracted driving and improper lane change after he was stopped on I-285 near Forest Parkway.
According to the Clayton County Sheriff's Office, Pereira Escobedo was driving a rented white 2019 Dodge Ram truck when COBRA Unit deputies pulled him over for allegedly driving while distracted and making an improper lane change.
CCSO called in a K-9, which alerted them to the marijuana inside a wooden crate in the rear of the truck.
Pereria Escobedo was granted property bonds of $1,500 on the distracted driving charge and $500 on the improper lane change charge, plus $500 in court fees. However, he was not granted bond on the marijuana trafficking charge and remains in custody as of press time.
Current street value of a pound of pot in metro Atlanta ranges between $2,380 and $2,800, making the haul worth an estimated $523,600 to $616,000, according to the crowdsourced marijuana price site budzu.com.
Pereira Escobedo is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 8 a.m. on Oct. 24 in room 202 before Magistrate Court Judge William West. If convicted under state law, Pereira Escobedo could get at least five years in prison plus a $100,000 fine.
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