An alleged drug trafficker is charged with having 180 pounds of marijuana – with a street value of $1 million or more – in what is one of the most significant marijuana seizures in Lancaster County history.
Miguel Angel Garcia-Jimenez, 45, is charged with felony drug-dealing regarding a Lancaster County Drug Task Force investigation which resulted in a seizure on Dec. 14.
At an apartment in the 200 block of West Main Street in Landisville, detectives found 180 pounds of high-grade marijuana – most of it vacuum-sealed – along with an “owe sheet” for customers and $4,000 cash.
Detectives estimated the marijuana, if sold in bulk, is worth about $500,000; if broken up for smaller-quantity sales, the value would exceed $1 million.
“This is one of the largest seizures of marijuana I can recall in my 26 years as a prosecutor in Lancaster County,” Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman Thursday. “A high-level trafficking operation was quashed with this arrest.”
Garcia-Jimenez is a Mexican national who has been deported from the United States multiple times. He is being held on a federal detainer, obtained by ICE.
District Judge Jayne Duncan arraigned Garcia-Jimenez on the felony charge and set bail at $1 million. Even if that is posted, he would remain in custody due to the federal detainer.
Garcia-Jimenez waived a preliminary hearing Wednesday.
Detectives obtained information about a bulk of marijuana at the Main Street location. They conducted surveillance of the apartment prior to the Dec. 14 search.
Garcia-Jimenez was at the apartment, with a key to the apartment on his person.
Law-enforcement officials are investigating where the marijuana came from and if any other individuals were involved in the trafficking operation.
Garcia-Jimenez is presumed innocent.
MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright
