With marijuana harvests in Mexico and northern California hitting their annual peak, more drug transporters are making their way through Flagstaff highways.

The increase in drug trafficking was highlighted on Nov. 13 when officers from the Flagstaff Department of Public Safety (DPS) stopped three different drivers and discovered at least 58 pounds of marijuana in each of their cars.

Sally French, 30, of Mendocino County, Calif., was stopped for speeding on eastbound I-40 near the Walnut Canyon exit. Suspicious behavior caused the officer to search her vehicle, which led to the discovery of 37 lbs. of high-grade marijuana.

Michael Garcia, 35, of Las Vegas was stopped for unsafe lane usage on eastbound I-40 near the Winona exit. A search of his car led to the discovery of 21 pounds of high-grade marijuana. Details of the third bust have not been released due to an ongoing investigation.

According to Michael Patton, the support specialist at the Coconino County Detention Facility, both suspects are being charged with possession of marijuana for sale and transport of marijuana for sale. Both crimes are potential felonies.

Patton said Garcia remains in custody, while French was released on $50,000 bail on Nov. 15.

Jesse Kasten/ The Lumberjack

“(The trial) for Michael Garcia is set for Dec. 1,” Garcia said. “Sally French was last set for Nov. 21, but our records aren’t updated for people that are released.”

DPS Sergeant Steve Shroufe, who is in his 16th year with the department, said while these cases do not seem to be connected, the timing of the busts is not surprising.

“We do see in the fall — from maybe October through February — an increase because that’s the harvesting season for marijuana,” Shroufe said.

It is common, Shroufe said, for drug traffickers to go through Flagstaff because of the important highways that go through the city. The most pivotal of these highways for traffickers is Interstate 40, which is a major highway going from California to North Carolina.

“(Marijuana) is being transported using our interstate system,” Shroufe said. “Also, the proximity of Flagstaff to Mexico allows us to find a lot of contraband on the highways.”

Shroufe said marijuana confiscated in Flagstaff comes from two primary sources.

“We see two different types (of marijuana): high-grade from northern California and marijuana from Mexico, which is usually of a lower grade,” Shroufe said.

The high-grade marijuana, which has higher levels of the key ingredient THC, is transported using one-pound vacuum-sealed bags. It is the more expensive of the two types, with DPS reports showing transporters purchasing the drugs for about $2,000 per pound, and selling them on the east coast for $6,500 to $7,000 per pound.

The Mexican marijuana is smuggled across the border in backpacks or vehicles by compressing the drugs into bricks. They are the cheaper type, with prices ranging from $500 to $800 per pound near the border to $1,500 to $2,000 per pound on the east coast.

The DPS uses drug interdictions, which entails stopping a driver and trying to detect whether there might be contraband inside his or her vehicle. Shroufe said interdictions are the sole method of discovering drugs on the highways.

“All our patrolmen are trained in criminal interdiction,” Shroufe said. “All interdictions begin with a traffic violation. We don’t do any kinds of drug interdiction test points. Randomly stopping cars would create traffic jams and those carrying drugs would probably hear about them and avoid the checkpoints altogether.”

Shroufe said there have been 120 seizures of drugs this year by his group of nine officers. Of those seizures, 70 percent are for marijuana, leading to more than 10,000  pounds of marijuana being confiscated.

Sergeant Ryan Coons of the Flagstaff Fire Department’s narcotics division said the marijuana harvest season has little effect on the amount of drugs confiscated in Flagstaff outside of the highways. He said 99.9 percent of the marijuana being transported on the highways will wind up in a location other than Flagstaff.

“While most of the activity goes up on the highway, the amount of drug busts here is pretty consistent,” Coons said. “A lot of marijuana comes from Mexico to Arizona, so a lot of it is pretty accessible in this part of the country.”

Coons said about a quarter of the marijuana confiscated is hydroponic, which means it can be grown indoors without having to use real soil.

“If you’re buying hydroponic marijuana, there’s no growth season,” Coons said. “So you can get it whenever you want. And we’re seeing an increase in the indoor grows.”

Coons said the police department finds an average of 100 pounds of marijuana every year. Of those, he said there is about an equal amount of high-grade and low-grade marijuana.

However, Coons said it is not just marijuana being sold.

“There’s other drugs being sold, like meth, heroin and cocaine,” Coons said. “Marijuana and meth are now the two most common drugs.”