WOODHAVEN, Mich. – Nearly 300 pounds of marijuana were found Wednesday in rail cars containing new Ford and Lincoln vehicles at the Ford Rail Distribution Facility in Woodhaven recently imported from Mexico.
The drugs were turned over to ICE's Homeland Security Investigations.
Ford employees made the discovery inside the rail cars which had recently been offloaded at the facility. Ford's Loss Prevention staff immediately contacted the Woodhaven Police Department.
A search was conducted on 200 vehicles. The seized drugs field tested positive for marijuana.
"This seizure ensures that these illegal drugs will never be distributed in our communities and offers actionable intelligence that HSI and our partners can now develop into a larger probe," said Steve Francis, HSI special agent in charge.
Ford is cooperating fully with the investigation and taking the incident very seriously.
Ford Motor Company released the following statement:
"We are taking this very seriously. We are working closely with a number of law enforcement agencies on this investigation, including the FBI, Customs, Department of Homeland Security and local police. We cannot comment further as this is an active investigation."
Authorities found marijuana worth $1 million hidden in the trunks of brand new Ford Fusions at a dealership in Ohio last week. The cars were manufactured at the Ford plant in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico.
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