$225,000 of marijuana found hidden on pickup truck

A pickup truck carrying what looked like just a bunch of furniture turned out to contain a large amount of marijuana, according to Marion County law enforcement. 

The driver of a Ford F-350 was pulled over Tuesday on 10th Street in Ocala by agents with the Unified Drug Enforcement Strike Team.

Agents said they were talking with the driver while K-9 officer Rocky sniffed the truck. They said Rocky quickly alerted them drugs could be present. Agents searched the truck and found four large cardboard boxes packed with marijuana.   

The truck and driver, Lee Alan Minchew, were taken to the Ocala Police Department, where it took six agents nearly two hours to breakdown and process all of the marijuana hidden within the truck's payload.

In all, they found 72 vacuum-sealed bags of pot with multiple layers of thick plastic wrapped around a one-pound brick of marijuana each.

Officers said the street value of marijuana at the quality they found ranges from $3,000 to $5,000 per pound, making this stash worth about $225,000 on the street. 

Minchew was arrested and booked into the Marion County Jail for trafficking marijuana - more than 25 pounds. He posted a $25,000 bond and was released on Wednesday.