Mother unknowingly shuttles weed in van for 13 years

NM (KRQE/CNN)  Melodie Peil bought the 1990 Chevy at an Alamogordo dealership in the early 2000s.

Since then, she's used it to shuttle her four kids and two grandkids all over the state. But that's not all the eight-seater has been shuttling around.

"Low and behold, we discovered something that didn't belong there,” Peil said.

Tucked away in the passenger side door of the family-friend van was more than 13 pounds of pot.

"It was pretty shocking," Peil said.

Peil said she was having a hard time getting the door to lock, so a friend pried open the panel to fix it. That's when bricks of decade old marijuana fell out. Police say the drugs were likely stashed there by the van's previous owner, more than 13 years ago.

"It was packaged typically how the drug traffickers package marijuana. You know, they wrap it in foil, they wrapped it in saran wrap real tightly,” said Alamogordo Detective Lt. Roger Schoolcraft.

Peil didn't just drive the van to the grocery store and back. It's gone through at least 10 border patrol checkpoints in New Mexico and it passed every time. Police say it's likely because the weed was so old and it was packaged so well.

Peil said she has learned a valuable lesson: To give the next car she buys a good pat down before driving it off the lot.

Police say there's a good chance even more pot is stashed in the van's gas tank and floor panels.

The family is taking the car to get X-rayed by border patrol.

Police have disposed the pot the family found in the van.

As for the previous owner, all the family knows is that he is from Germany.


Source: http://www.kptv.com/story/27957425/mother-unknowingly-shuttles-weed-in-van-for-13-years#ixzz3QJBqucwg