SAFFORD, Ariz. -- Arizona Department of Public Safety officers seized nearly 1,200 pounds of marijuana and arrested an undocumented immigrant after a pursuit near Safford.
A pickup truck on northbound U.S. 191 made a U-turn and fled after officers attempted to stop the driver for a moving violation on Saturday, according to DPS.
The officers initiated a pursuit with speeds reaching in excess of 90 mph.
Officers deflated both left-side tires with spike strips, but the driver continued to drive on the rims, taking the Interstate 10 eastbound and exiting at Page Ranch Road.
The driver lost control while attempting to go southbound and the truck came to a stop on the shoulder of the roadway.
The driver, Jose Manuel Miranda Fuentes, 38, of Agua Prieta, Mexico, was arrested without further incident.
Officers conducted a search of the vehicle and discovered 50 bundles of marijuana weighing 1,161 pounds in the bed and cab of the pickup truck.
Fuentes was booked into Cochise County Jail in Willcox. Charges include possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, transporting marijuana for sale, unlawful flight from law enforcement, and use of electronic communication in drug-related transaction.
