Tampa man arrested on I-75 with 133 pounds of marijuana

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – Robert Flores, 26, was arrested yesterday afternoon after 133 pounds of marijuana and other illegal drugs were allegedly found in his truck following a traffic stop on I-75.

At about 4 p.m. yesterday, a Gainesville Police Department K-9 handler who was assigned to the 8th Judicial Circuit-Gainesville Domestic Highway Enforcement Task Force conducted a traffic stop at mile marker 373 for improper lane change and failure to maintain a single lane of travel. Flores was reportedly the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle.

Flores reportedly refused to give consent to search the vehicle, so the K-9 was brought to the vehicle and alerted to the scent of narcotics. A search of the vehicle reportedly found that the entire bed of the truck was full of large heavy-duty trash bags of marijuana, vacuum-sealed into 1.2-pound bags. The total weight of the marijuana was estimated at 133 pounds (60,327 grams).

The search also reportedly found two large heavy-duty trash bags containing “hundreds” of packages of individual cannabis edibles, along with two boxes with several hundred individual cannabis vape cartridges. A vacuum-sealed box of psilocybin mushroom candy was also reportedly found in the bed of the truck.

Flores has been charged with possession of trafficking quantities of marijuana (over 25 pounds) and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. Flores has no criminal history, and Judge Meshon Rawls set bail at $250,000.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.