JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Two Central Florida men were arrested last week in Jacksonville after authorities allegedly found them with 240 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop.
According to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Zhong Wang, 52, and “Hui Li,” 27, were pulled over by the Florida Highway Patrol on Wednesday and found with dozens of large bags of marijuana with a street value of around $500,000.
The DEA said the two men had been under surveillance and were arrested on Dunn Avenue in North Jacksonville. The DEA said the marijuana was transported from California to Jacksonville.
Wang is a Vietnamese national that is living near Orlando and Li is believed to have a fraudulent ID so his age, and address is presumed false, according to the DEA. They now face multiple charges.
Jacksonville DEA Special Agent in Charge Mike Dubet believes it could be part of a trafficking operation.
“There’s people that are growing it. There’s people transporting it. There’s people receiving it. People storing it. There’s people distributing it. There’s people breaking it down to sellable amounts,” he explained.
Dubet says the seizure of this amount of marijuana at one time doesn’t happen to often, but when it does, it usually leads to more arrest. And right now, they expect to identify and arrest more suspects between Jacksonville and California as this investigation continues.