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Traffic Stop Leads To Pot Bust

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A staff report

Published: October 23, 2008

DADE CITY - Pasco County deputies and detectives, aided by a drug-sniffing dog, found 85 pounds of marijuana in a car that was stopped because of an improperly attached license plate, the sheriff's office reported today.
The driver, Jose-Juan Carlos Castro-Ramirez, 29, of Lacoochee, was arrested on a charge of trafficking marijuana. He is being held in the Land O' Lakes Jail with bail set at $50,000.
Castro-Ramirez was driving a 1997 Saturn near Old Lakeland Highway and Stewart Road south of Dade City when he was pulled over at 6:12 p.m. Wednesday by the sheriff's office's Street Tactical Operations and Patrol, a report said.
Deputies smelled marijuana and brought in a police dog named Missy, who is used to sniff out drugs, the report said.
After Missy had a "positive hit," the detectives found eight large packages of marijuana in the car's trunk, the report said.
Detectives suspect Castro-Ramirez planned to drop off the packages in the Dade City area and are investigating where he picked up the marijuana, the report said.
The street value of the marijuana is about $1,000 to $1,500 per pound, the report said.

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