Cloned H-E-B truck hauling pot 'a very professional job'
Fake truck had real cargo, but it wasn’t legalDPS seizes ‘cloned’ truck, more than 2 tons of marijuana
The abandoned 18-wheeler found at a northeast Houston truck stop appeared to be part of the H-E-B supermarket chain’s transport fleet.
But investigators on Monday didn’t find a load of fresh produce bound for grocery store shelves when they opened the door. Instead, they uncovered more than 4,400 pounds of marijuana wrapped in tight plastic bundles.
H-E-B officials said they have a ready explanation: The 18-wheeler doesn’t belong to them, regardless of its rather impressive disguise.
“We have no record of that truck at all,” said
Cyndy Garza-Robert, a spokeswoman for the San Antonio-based company.
DPS officials said the truck was made up to resemble one of H-E-B’s legitimate long-haul carriers. Called “cloning,” the tactic is fast becoming a favorite for narcotics traffickers hoping to avoid law enforcement scrutiny on the freeways.
“This one was extremely detailed. It would pass almost anyone’s inspection as being an H-E-B truck,” said Lt.
Dan Webb, with the
Texas Department of Public Safety. “The Mexican (drug) cartels have a lot of sophistication when it comes to cloning. They do their research. They do a very professional job.”
The tractor-trailer rig was spotted at a truck stop near McCarty and the East Loop — in a heavily industrial part of Houston where heavy vehicles are a common sight. An employee called H-E-B after noting that the truck had been left unattended for at least 24 hours.
“We had the vehicle towed and ran a check,” Garza-Robert said. “We discovered that the truck, in fact, was not part of our fleet.”
H-E-B officials said they immediately notified law enforcement officials, who then impounded the truck.
“It looked very authentic,” Garza-Robert said. “It had everything.”
Investigators don’t know why the truck was abandoned. It didn’t have mechanical problems.
DPS said H-E-B has fully cooperated with them in their ongoing investigation. “We’ve got some suspects, no arrests at this point,” Webb said.
The marijuana in the bogus H-E-B truck would have been either broken down into smaller loads or transported on to other cities, DPS officials said.
“Almost everything that comes across the border comes through Houston,” Webb said.
The cache was worth about $1.8 million, officials said.
“Whenever a load is lost that large, someone is going to pay dearly,” Webb said. “I wouldn’t want to be them — or their families.”
H-E-B isn’t the only business hit by the truck-cloning narcotics traffickers.
“You just about name it,” Webb said, “and they’ve cloned it” — including a school bus and a UPS truck.
The abandoned 18-wheeler found at a northeast Houston truck stop appeared to be part of...
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