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Published on Thursday, October 3, 2002
in the Ft. Myers News Press
Drug dogs weren’t needed to sniff out 21 pounds of marijuana discovered in the back of a van on Tuesday, state troopers said.
The home-grown marijuana was so pungent, that the scene of an Interstate 75 crash reeked of the drug when troopers arrived to investigate.
"It’s the good stuff," Sgt. Dan Hinton of the Florida Highway Patrol said. "It’s the kind people strive to get."
What started as a report of a noon four-vehicle crash ended with the arrest of a Cape Coral man and the seizure of about $84,000 worth of hydroponic-grown marijuana.
Troopers think Jesus Siriani, 50, was paid about $1,000 to deliver two large boxes filled with 1-pound bags of pot to Miami, Hinton said.
But while driving a rented Dodge van south on I-75, Siriani was involved in a pileup near the scene of another crash on the interstate.
After troopers smelled the marijuana, Siriani politely agreed to open the boxes, revealing the bags packaged for sale, Hinton said.
"He said he found it," he said. "We think someone paid him to take it to Miami."
One thousand dollars in cash also was found in Siriani’s front pocket, Hinton said.
Siriani was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and use of a motor vehicle during the commission of a felony, FHP reported.
No one was injured in the four-vehicle crash, which was one of six crashes Tuesday that snarled traffic on I-75 near Daniels Parkway for about an hour, Hinton said.