DPS Trooper Seizes over 47 Pounds of Marijuana

AMARILLO – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) conducted a traffic stop Saturdayon IH-40, yielding over 47 pounds of marijuana valued at over $290,000.

At approximately 8:58 a.m., a DPS trooper conducted a traffic stop on a 2014 Toyota Corolla passenger car traveling eastbound on IH-40, for a traffic violation, near Bushland in Potter County.

The occupants of the Corolla were identified as Sara F Bazylev, 44, and  Paola Mayela-Castro, 27, both of Pomona, Calif. During the traffic stop, the trooper discovered two large bundles of marijuana in the trunk.

Bazylev and Mayela-Castro were placed under arrest for possession of marijuana over five pounds but less than fifty, a third-degree felony, and booked into the Potter County Jail. The illegal drugs were allegedly being transported from Ontario, Calif., to Kennesaw, Ga.