Man busted with 138 pounds pot on I-80

TRUCKEE — A California highway patrolman arrested a 46-year-old Sacramento man with 138 pounds of marijuana in his SUV after the trooper spotted him passing several vehicles on the shoulder of U.S. Interstate 80 near the Donner Summit.

The CHP officer pulled over Brandon T. Cook shortly after noon Monday near the interstate rest area.

The officer smelled marijuana in Cook’s Toyota Rav 4 and conducted a probable-cause search of the vehicle, Patrol PIO Peter Mann said. He found the pot in large duffel bags in the back seat, along with $2,600 in cash, Mann said.

Cook was booked into the Nevada County substation jail in Truckee on two felony counts of possession of marijuana for sale and transportation of a drug. His bail was set Tuesday at $250,000.